UPDATE: West Des Moines Names New Police Chief

Patch has learned that Shaun LaDue, formerly a police chief in a city where West Des Moines City Manager Greg Sparks was the chief administrator, has accepted the job as West Des Moines' new police chief.

LaDue will begin his duties Sept. 17, said Jane Pauba Dodge, the city’s human resources manager. He will be paid $129,031 annually.

Sparks extended the offer to LaDue on Friday. The West Des Moines police chief serves at the pleasure of the city manager and does not require City Council approval.

LaDue is a 20-year veteran of law enforcement, including six years as Owatonna, MN, police chief. Sparks was city manager at Owatonna from November 1995 to June 2007, during which time LaDue was hired in that city. LaDue is currently the director of compliance investigations for the Government Programs Section of UnitedHealthcare in Minnesota.

New Chief Not a Unanimous Choice

Mayor Steve Gaer said the Civil Service Commission, which selected LaDue and three other applicants as finalists from an initial pool of 64 candidates, “did some extra due diligence” once the prior association with Sparks was known.

Gaer said he advised Sparks to hire “whichever candidate is going to be in the best interests of the community of West Des Moines.”

Gaer was on a panel that included Sparks and Human Resources Director Jane Pauba-Dodge. The other three interview panels included community leaders and residents, police department employees, and department heads and command staff.

He acknowledged that LaDue wasn’t the top choice of each of the four interview candidates.

“All four were strong candidates,” Gaer said. “Any one of them would have made a great police chief. We started with the premise that we had four great finalists who went through a huge process, with a lot of applicants and a lot of testing.”

Owatonna has a population of 24,725 and a police department with 50 employees. Prior to his position in Owatonna, LaDue was a commander with the Bloomington Police Department in Minnesota with a population of 86,000 and a department of about 140 employees.

LaDue has a master's degree in public administration from Minnesota State University - Mankato and is a graduate of the Senior Management Institute for Police and the Southern Police Institute - Administrative Officer's Course.

In a meet-and-greet session with members of the public earlier this month, LaDue said he has “vision-inspired leadership” based on the principles of integrity, courage in decision-making, compassion toward people in both the general and police communities, and engagement and relationship-building in the community.

He said he has the business acumen to manage the department efficiently, and the “energy and drive” for public service.

“I have a true commitment to take this department to the next level,” LaDue said.

Other finalists were:

• J.C. Paez, who has 27 years of public service beginning as a U.S. Marine Corps military police officer, and currently is a commander with Hoffman Estates Police Department in Illinois.

• Alfonso Pizzano, who has 25 years’ law enforcement experience with the New York City Police Department and currently serves as a captain, providing oversight to 168 officers covering a population of 900,000.

• Marti Reilly, a 31-year veteran of law enforcement, including the last two years as captain for the city of Sioux City,which has a population of 82,644.