After a nationwide search, the city of Ames announced that Geoff Huff will serve as the next police chief. 

“Geoff has been an integral part of the management team in the Ames Police Department for many years,” Ames City Manager Steve Schainker said in a news release Friday. “He possesses the right combination of experience and skills required of this critical leadership position and is committed to continue our efforts to evolve the department so that we earn the trust of every Ames citizen.”

Huff will replace former Police Chief Chuck Cychosz, who retired in August 2020. 

The police chief is responsible for providing leadership, direction and oversight of the entire Ames Police Department, which includes patrol, investigations, communications, record maintenance, administrative, parking enforcement and animal control functions, the news release said. 

The police chief also serves as a member of the city manager’s executive leadership team.

Huff was one of the two candidates for the position, the other being John Justiniano of Winchester, California. The two gave public presentations earlier this month of their plans for the department if they were chosen for the position. 

Huff worked for the Ames Police Department since 1994 and served as its interim chief for the past year. Huff has a bachelor’s degree in criminology from the University of Northern Iowa and a master’s degree in criminal justice from the American Military University. He is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

During his presentation, he focused on diversity and transparency within the police department. One of his goals is to be more present in the community as well as making police data accessible to the public. 

“That’s what we’re working on now: trying to figure out how we take that data, what is the best way to provide it to the public?” Huff said during his presentation. “And then, once it’s available, I mean, it’s available to anyone, you can do what you want with it.”

Huff will begin serving as the police chief July 1.