Iowa City Police Department swears in new officers

IOWA CITY - Efforts to add more diversity to the Iowa City Police Department have come to fruition.

Last month, the Iowa City Council approved a temporary increase in the police department's strength in order to offer jobs to four officers, three of whom are black. Those four officers were sworn in Thursday morning.

The four new officers are:

l Isaac Hoffmann, 25, of Manchester. Hoffmann is a 2013 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, where he earned his bachelor's degree in criminology. He previously served in the U.S. Army, achieving the rank of sergeant.

l Aaron Mitchel, 23, of New London. Mitchell earned his bachelor's degree from Buena Vista University, where he double-majored in criminal justice and psychology. He also holds an associate degree from Indian Hills Community College.

l Anthony Owens, 21, of Detroit. He was a criminal justice major at Kirkwood Community College.

l Trai Bunch, 23, of Waterloo is a 2016 graduate of the University of Northern Iowa, where he earned his bachelor's degree in sports psychology. Bunch ran cross-country and track and field at UNI, as well.

Iowa City manager Geoff Fruin and Interim Police Chief Bill Campbell said last month that when they were looking at the hiring list to fill two openings, they saw that three of the top four candidates were minorities.

'It has been our goal for some time ... for us to take steps to diversify our workforce,” Fruin said in November.

Fruin and Campbell agreed that waiting for two more openings would mean the department would likely miss out on the chance to hire all four officers and Fruin requested the council temporarily increase the police department roster. The request was unanimously approved by the city council and offers were made to the candidates.

The four new officers are scheduled to attend the next session of the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy, beginning Jan. 3. Following their anticipated graduation on April 14, the new officers will participate in the department's field training program.

l Comments: (319) 398-8238; lee.hermiston@thegazette.com