CITY OF CEDAR FALLS: Cedar Falls Public Safety Update

By Press release submission

Mar 7, 2020

City of Cedar Falls issued the following announcement on Mar. 3.

On February 20, 2020, the Cedar Falls City Council voted to pass Resolution #21,893 during a special council meeting. The resolution approved the immediate implementation of the Public Safety Program including reorganization of the Public Safety Department. Cedar Falls Mayor Rob Green issued a veto on this decision on February 21, 2020. The City Council voted to repass the resolution during the Cedar Falls City Council meeting on March 2, 2020.

Per the council vote, Cedar Falls will now be fully staffed by Public Safety Officers within the Public Safety Department in addition to six fire supervisors. With the restructure of the department, eight firefighters have been placed on immediate paid administrative leave.

A task force, which includes Council members Simon Harding and Frank Darrah as well as members of the Cedar Falls city staff, has been assembled to assist with the transition. This includes potentially applying and training for a public safety officer position, which are available, or looking into other areas of employment in the city, if available. If they choose to leave employment with the city, Cedar Falls is offering a separation package of six months’ pay and six months health insurance.

The Cedar Falls Public Safety Department would like to issue this statement addressing the City Council vote during the council meeting on March 2, 2020:

The Cedar Falls Public Safety Department works tirelessly to provide high-quality fire and police protection to our City. The status change of 8 career firefighters will not affect the service or fire staffing levels in the days, weeks, or months to come. Our fire stations continue to be staffed with highly-trained career firefighter supervisors, Public Safety Supervisors, and Public Safety Officers – all assigned to 24 hour shifts working exclusively at the fire stations.

The team of professional police and firefighters employed by the City of Cedar Falls are committed to the safety of our community and stand ready to respond to emergencies.

Original source can be found here.