Records show that the RTD police chief, who is now under investigation, regularly drove the service vehicle at over 100 miles per hour

According to data obtained by CPR News, RTD’s police chief regularly drove a service vehicle at speeds over 100 mph.

Data recorded by a transponder attached to Joel Fitzgerald Sr.’s vehicle recorded more than a dozen trips in which the vehicle traveled faster than 100 mph and dozens of trips exceeding 90 mph between November 2023 and May 2024.

Fitzgerald was allowed to use the vehicle, an unmarked police SUV, because he was expected to respond to “emergencies” when needed, records show. It’s unclear whether Fitzgerald was speeding while responding to a police emergency as part of his duties as police chief.

The top speed recorded by the transponder was 106 mph, measured at 8:02 a.m. on Jan. 11 on Interstate 25 between Castle Rock and Castle Pines. Fitzgerald frequently speeds on Interstate 25 between Colorado Springs and Denver, the data shows. According to local land records, he moved to Colorado Springs last year.

Fitzgerald was placed on leave on July 1 and is being investigated by an outside party for policy violations, CBS Colorado reported Thursday.

RTD has not yet commented on the policy violations. RTD has declined to comment on the specifics of Fitzgerald’s absence. General Manager and CEO Debra Johnson told CPR News, “I’m not going to have a conversation about Fitzgerald,” when asked about it recently.

When asked for comment on the speeding data, RTD spokesman Stuart Summers said the agency “expects its employees to conduct themselves professionally and follow all policies and procedures.”

“RTD is committed to understanding the facts surrounding activities that may conflict with policies and procedures to ensure appropriate responses are made,” he wrote in an email.

Other data obtained by CPR News shows that Fitzgerald did not use RTD facilities very often, averaging only nine days a month during his tenure in Denver.

Fitzgerald did not respond to CPR News’ request for comment.

If the speeding did not occur as part of an emergency response related to his duties as police chief, it violated RTD’s internal rules and law. The agency’s policies governing employee use of vehicles state that employees must obey “all traffic laws and regulations.”

However, Fitzgerald was apparently never caught by law enforcement. CPR News contacted 10 law enforcement agencies between Colorado Springs and Denver, including the State Patrol, and none reported citations or arrests.

Under state law, drivers who speed more than 25 miles per hour – which Fitzgerald repeatedly did – can be fined up to $300 and sentenced to 90 days in jail.

Fitzgerald was hired for a big job and received a high salary.

Johnson hired Fitzgerald in 2022 and tasked him with expanding RTD’s police department as the agency sought to make its vehicles and stations safer. The department grew from 18 sworn officers in August 2022, when Fitzgerald started, to 79 officers in June 2024. He had originally stated a goal of 200 sworn officers by 2024.

He was also behind a controversial revision of RTD’s passenger code of conduct, which in an initial draft would have banned passengers from riding all day. Supporters said they had specifically targeted homeless riders and the changes were scaled back.

Fitzgerald’s starting annual salary was $250,000, plus a $10,000 relocation allowance and an $8,000 bonus, according to his offer letter, which was also available through a records request.

That was more than the number of the largest police departments in the state at the time, even though RTD was relatively small. Fitzgerald’s force also includes hundreds of off-duty officers from local police departments and contracted security officers.

Fitzgerald spent 30 years in the industry, leading departments in Texas, Pennsylvania and Iowa. He was fired as chief in Fort Worth in 2019 and later sued the city, though officials now reportedly intend to negotiate a settlement with Fitzgerald.

He also recently applied for the position of police chief in Austin, but was not shortlisted.

Fitzgerald had a reputation for not showing up to work often. The data bears this out.

CPR News obtained security pass data from Fitzgerald and other RTD leaders. The data shows that Fitzgerald entered RTD facilities on 18 separate days in September 2022, his first full month at RTD. Since then, he has used his security pass to enter agency facilities twice for at least 15 days. In many months, however, the numbers are much lower: In May 2024, for example, he was only allowed to enter for three days.

“I’m not shocked, but I’m disappointed,” said Lance Longenbohn, president of the local ATU union, which represents many transit drivers and other public sector workers.

Longenbohn said there’s a running joke at RTD about certain managers you rarely see. Fitzgerald is at the top of that list, he said.

“He was just never there,” added Longenbohn. “We just never heard a peep from him.”

Longenbohn praised Fitzgerald for increasing police numbers, but added that bus and train riders reported that police presence on the rail and bus network was not as strong as it should be.

“On the contrary, our biggest concern now is that the proverbial police in the café scenario is developing here,” he said.

Fitzgerald did not respond to multiple requests for comment. Board member Troy Whitmore, chair of the board’s operations and safety committee, declined to comment on the ID data.

There are a few possible explanations for some of Fitzgerald’s absences. He may have taken extended periods off after his son, also a police officer, was killed in the line of duty in Philadelphia in February 2023 – although security pass data shows he was in the office relatively few days in the months prior.

Fitzgerald could have worked from home, but data shows that other RTD executives were in the company buildings more often than Fitzgerald’s average of nine days per month.

Debra Johnson, the agency’s general manager and CEO, averaged 13.4 days per month with at least one ID swipe between September 2022 and June 2024. Dave Jensen, RTD’s deputy general manager for rail, averaged 18.2 days per month with at least one ID swipe during that period.

Longenbohn said Fitzgerald should have been more visible and physically present in his job as police chief.

“I don’t know how the police chief can work from home,” he said. “I mean, it’s a pretty hands-on job.”

CPR News editor Joe Wertz contributed to this report