Some, like Iowa State Police Chief candidate Aaron Delashmutt, come to Ames and never want to leave.

Delashmutt, an Iowa State graduate and current interim police chief for the Iowa State Police, was the first of four candidates for the position to hold an open forum Tuesday at the Memorial Union. He discussed transparency as a station, building trust in the community and put a strong emphasis on officer wellness and safety.

“We gotta take care of our officers. Like I said, this is one of the toughest times right now,” Delashmutt said. “We’ve got a lot of good people and it’s a tough job. We have to do what we can to keep them mentally and physically healthy.”

The theme of these open forums is set to be campus policing in the 21st century. Delashmutt touched on how the department implements social media into its outreach.

He said he sees importance in interacting with the community, which includes online outreach.

Delashmutt is also an advocator of outreach events like Coffee with Cops, where students can get free coffee and donuts and speak with their campus officers.

Recognizing that most people on campus know Officer Anthony Greiter, who does outreach for the department, Delashmutt wants the community to one day know all of the officers.

A recurring theme was keeping the department transparent and open. This includes having officers wear body cameras, an initiative that is expected to be fully implemented within the next month, and continuing community outreach.

Also on his list of priorities is the concept of implementing a community advisory board. He thinks that it would give the students, faculty and staff a voice when it comes to their campus law enforcement.  

“Not necessarily that they’re gonna dictate how we operate,” Delashmutt said. “They may influence at times, but we can’t pretend to know exactly how our community wants us to operate.”

Once his presentation was over, people in attendance were free to ask questions. The other open forums for police chief will follow the same format.

One participant asked if Delashmutt could recall a mistake that he made as interim chief and how he corrected it.

Delashmutt responded by saying that at an open forum on diversity he felt his lack of preparation led to the issues feeling unresolved.

At the event, he relied on his ability to think on his feet, but felt the frustration of the crowd by the end of the evening.

He advised never going into an event feeling too comfortable and plans to be better prepared in the future.

The next person went in the opposite direction, asking what strengths Delashmutt brought to the department that would aid him in his new role.

Delashmutt believes that his calm and steadfast nature would be his greatest asset.

Though he may get angry in his head, he said he has learned that he doesn’t benefit from getting riled up.

Delashmutt has been working for the Iowa State Police Department since he was a student at Iowa State, where he graduated in 1997.

He described the force back then as very progressive because new technology was coming into play. He said this was something that he wanted to be a part of at the time.

Knowing that the promotion to police chief was something he wanted, he jumped at the chance to act as interim chief while the university searched for someone to permanently fill the role.

The next candidate’s forum will take place from 2:50 p.m. to 3:50 p.m Friday at 1310 Beyer Hall. The names of the other candidates have not yet been disclosed.