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Iowa City’s chief of police Jody Matherly announced on Thursday he is retiring.
“I could not have dreamed that serving the Iowa City community over the last three years would have had such a positive impact on me,” Matherly said in a written statement. “Over the past couple years, I have experienced some health concerns which prompted me to reflect on what the future holds. I decided that while my well-being and the police department are both in a good place, now is the perfect time to transition to the next chapter.”
Matherly was chief of police in Altoona, Iowa, when he was hired for the ICPD job.
“I love Altoona and I had planned to stay here but ironically 11 years ago when the last chief got the Iowa City job I had thought about applying because I really liked that kind of a city,” Matherly told the Des Moines Register in December 2016, as the months-long hiring process in Iowa City was coming to an end.
“Matherly’s love for the city of Iowa City stems from three different areas: Being a college town like he experienced as the police chief in Grinnell with Grinnell College, being diverse and the large city feel like Flint, Mich., where he previously had worked and like Altoona in that it has many visitors on a daily basis,” the Register explained. (Altoona’s main attraction being Adventureland.)
Matherly, who has been a law enforcement officer for over 37 years, officially became Iowa City’s chief of police on Jan. 23, 2017. An exact date for his retirement has not yet been determined.
“A national search will be conducted for the Police Chief position,” according to the city. “Details on the recruitment process, including opportunities for public input, will be released later this month.”
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