Former RTD police chief terminated for cause, AG’s Office says

Former RTD Police Chief Joel Fitzgerald — who separated from the agency last week — was fired, according to a Colorado licensing database.
CBS News Colorado reported on Sept. 20 that Fitzgerald “was no longer employed at the Regional Transportation District,” according to a memo from RTD CEO Debra Johnson that was sent out to all RTD employees. But the agency refused to say if Fitzgerald had resigned or was fired, and it declined to share any information about what led to the separation. Johnson said last Friday that she would share her “plans for interim leadership” in the coming days.
Nearly a week later, no new information has been provided about whether Fitzgerald was fired or voluntarily resigned.
On Thursday, Colorado’s Peace Officer Standards and Training database — which shows the employment and disciplinary status of Colorado law enforcement officers — showed that Fitzgerald had been “Terminated For Cause.” The Colorado Attorney General’s Office oversees the POST Board.
After the publication of this story, RTD responded to an open records request saying it had no records of termination or separation for Fitzgerald.
An RTD spokeswoman also responded to a request for comment Thursday saying RTD “adheres to the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Board regulations and its reporting requirements,” but did not otherwise comment on Fitzgerald’s termination.
It’s unclear if the firing impacts Fitzgerald’s ability to serve in law enforcement in Colorado. The AG’s office shared a statement in response to CBS Colorado’s query about Fitzgerald’s ability to serve, saying “termination for cause may not necessarily lead to decertification.”
“State law specifies the conduct for which an officer may be decertified (e.g. felony or specific misdemeanor convictions, untruthfulness, etc),” spokesperson Lawrence Pacheco said.
Fitzgerald joined RTD as its police chief in 2022. But he had been on leave since July as an outside investigator looked into alleged “policy violations.”