IOWA CITY, IA (CBS2/FOX28) — The Iowa City Police Department is growing. “We’ve got two positions that were approved above our normal compliment of 80,” says Chief Sam Hargadine. Two new officers will soon patrol Iowa City streets, but the two officers aren’t just anyone. “They have to be combat military veterans,” Hargadine said. With the help of a federal grant the department is able to collect money for the salaries of two veterans looking for work in law enforcement. Already Chief Hargadine has identified the two new recruits. “We did a process late last summer where we had an eligibility roster of 30, of those 30, five of them happen to be military veterans,” says Hargadine. The two new officers will serve in community policing roles, one of them will spend their days on foot patrol right here on the ped mall. The other will work closely with the crime prevention officer tackling issues like neighborhood crime. “The City Council has a strategic goal of neighborhood stabilization and that officer will be dedicated towards improving the quality of life in those neighborhoods,” says Hargadine. And as each neighborhood grows Hargadine says the men and women in blue must keep up with that growth.
[Source: “Iowa City Police Hire Military Vets,” KGAN CBS 2, 29 November 2012]
