New Cedar Rapids police chief focusing on community outreach, staff well-being

CEDAR RAPIDS — In the almost two months since he began serving as Cedar Rapids’ new police chief, David Dostal has learned that even the best laid plans can go awry.

“I always come in to work with a plan, to basically address what’s on my calendar, but very rarely, almost never, does it go as planned,” he said last week in an interview. “I always have to adapt and change things as it goes.”

Besides his new job of running the day-to-day operations of the department, Dostal has spent time visiting with community members, attending rallies and traveling to Des Moines to tell state lawmakers he’d support their plan to regulate — and not ban — automated traffic enforcement cameras.

Dostal, a Cedar Rapids native, went from patrol officer to captain before starting as police chief on Feb. 28 — replacing Wayne Jerman, the city’s police chief for over 10 years whose officer certification expired after he turned 65.

Dostal, 56, was the only internal applicant to make it to the final stage of the application process. His salary as chief is $174,953.46.

“The demand of this job I somewhat expected, and I'm realizing exactly what that demand is. It is a very busy schedule, but you know what, I knew that coming in. Now it's just a matter of adapting and being able to grow, being able to expand my leadership skills,” he said.

History in the department

Dostal has been expanding his leadership skills bit by bit since he started as a patrol officer in the department in 1991. He initially applied for the role then as a way of gaining experience in law enforcement after graduating from Cornell College with a sociology degree. His original plan was to apply to work the FBI after a few years, but he ended up loving working in his hometown department.

Since starting as a patrol officer, Dostal has moved up through the ranks, working as an investigator, a sergeant, a lieutenant and a captain. He worked in the narcotics department and on patrol.

“The nice thing about every position I’ve held in this department is it has made me grow and understand my leadership skills,” Dostal said. “It has just made me that much better at seeing the big picture and better understanding my responsibility for this department.”

Dostal’s son, Nolan Dostal, is also a police officer with the. The chief doesn’t always see him at work, because their schedules don’t usually line up, but Dostal said he’s proud to see his son following in his footsteps.

“With him being an officer, and me being the chief, there’s still that professional level. … He still calls me chief. I refer to him as officer,” Dostal said. “It’s just that fine balance. The nice thing about it is, when we’re away from work, it’s nice to be Dad again.”

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Priorities for the department

Dostal said he is making a point to make time for community engagement in his new role. He’s attended neighborhood association meetings — in Vernon Heights, Ellis Harbor and Oak Hill Jackson — and plans on attending more, and has met multiple times with the Citizen Review Board.

“I want individuals in the community to see me not only as a chief of police, but also as a person. I think that's huge because I think that takes away from the stigma of us versus them,” Dostal said.

John Hansen, the Ellis Harbor association’s city liaison, said Dostal attended the association’s April 4 meeting. Some members already were familiar with Dostal because he’s been in the police department for so long, according to Hansen.

“I always think it’s a great idea for anybody that’s in a position like that to reach out and get with the community and find out what the true needs and wants are that aren’t really politically motivated,” Hansen said.

Dorothy De Souza Guedes, the liaison for the Oak Hill Jackson Neighborhood, said she had met Dostal in late February at the ribbon cutting ceremony for the African American Museum of Iowa, and he told her he was planning to attend the neighborhood meeting on March 11.

“Our members were thrilled that Chief Dostal chose to visit Oak Hill Jackson Neighborhood Association so early into his role as chief. He’s friendly, personable and welcomed questions and comments from our group any time,” De Souza Guedes said.

Dostal and his wife also attended a fundraising march April 6 for The Arc of East Central Iowa, a nonprofit that supports individuals with disabilities and their families.

“He was really engaging with the people that we serve. He was going around and introducing himself. It was just like he felt at home, said Theresa Lewis, executive director of The Arc. ”That not always what we see for the people that we serve, so that was really nice.“

Lewis said she had the chance to talk with Dostal at the event, and she felt he was open to help create a community receptive to people of all abilities. She said she’s hoping to work more with him to implement tools and training that The Arc offers to help law enforcement agencies know how best to support and interact with people with varying levels of ability.

According to Lewis, at one point during the event, an individual approached Dostal to tell him that their partner wanted to talk to Dostal but was worried because of previous poor experiences with police officers. “The chief was just so gracious and accommodating, and eventually that individual came up and they had a really nice conversation. He invited him to come to the precinct sometime and get a tour and maybe sit in a police car,” Lewis said.

Dostal said he has plans to meet soon with other community organizations and the rest of the city’s neighborhood associations.

“I’m open to meet with any community group, whoever wants to meet. It’s just a matter of making the time and making the effort to go,” he said.

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Another of Dostal’s priorities in his new role is the health and well-being of the members of the police department, including the officers and the civilian staff. The department has 220 sworn personnel, according to the department’s 2023 annual report.

“I believe our officers, and anybody that works in the department, have been exposed to a lot more critical incidents that they ever have in the past,” Dostal said.

“I want to explore looking into a program that will definitely establish good health and well-being of individuals that work here at the department. I believe that in order to serve the community the best you can, you have to feel good about yourself.”

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Another change in the department that Dostal has been looking into, with the information technology department, is the possibility of eventually establishing a “Real Time Crime Center.” A crime center is an online hub that some police departments use to keep track of dispatched calls, officer locations and other crime response information all in one place, to make responses more efficient.

A crime center would require separate funding that would need to be approved by the city, so it won’t be happening soon, but Dostal said it’s something he’d like to see the police department work on down the line.

Dostal said he doesn’t want to make too many changes in the way the department is run, but that he’s excited to continue to work with officers to improve where possible.

“I inherited a department that is doing very well. We have dedicated officers. We have dedicated professionals in this department. Things are going extremely well, and I am blessed to have that. It’s not like I have to reinvent the wheel,” Dostal said.

Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com