Regional Transportation District Chief of Police Joel Fitzgerald Sr. has been on leave since early July as an outside investigator looks into alleged "policy violations," according to reports from CBS News Colorado.
An RTD spokesperson confirmed that Fitzgerald has been on leave since July 1, but denied requests for any further information or comment, saying they did not have anything to say because the matter deals with "personnel issues."
CBS was made aware of the chief's leave through an internal memo dated July 1, in which RTD CEO Debra Johnson announced the leave, stating that the deputy chief of police, Steven Martingano, was acting in his place "until further notice," according to CBS, who was first to report the news.
Johnson did not say anything in the memo about the nature of his leave, CBS reported.
Fitzgerald joined RTD's police force in August of 2022, taking on the role of overseeing customer safety and security in the metro Denver region.
He joined RTD with three decades of law enforcement experience and has served as police chief in four cities.
His leave comes during a time when RTD is in the midst of addressing crime concerns, according to previous reporting by The Denver Gazette .
RTD fielded 13,938 calls for service in 2023, both via phone and its Transit Watch application. The agency saw 12,064 calls for service in 2022, according to RTD.
These 2023 numbers include 20 calls for weapon offenses, 146 for threats, 11 for menacing and 82 for assault.
RTD is implementing its “Welcoming Transit Environment” initiative, a strategy “reducing the impacts of criminal behaviors and Customer Code of Conduct violations, improving community and employee concerns related to personal safety and security, and creating an overall transit environment that provides a safe, convenient, and enjoyable experience for all customers and employees,” RTD officials said in a statement.
According to RTD's website , the RTD Transit Police Department has over 600 contracted police and uniformed security officers, covering nearly 2,400 square miles across eight counties and 40 cities in the metro Denver area.
Denver Gazette reporter Noah Festenstein contributed to this report.
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