The Jefferson City Council recently approved a new police officer.

Paul Keeland is from Fort Dodge, but grew up in Liverpool, Texas. He received his Associates of Arts Degree in general studies. After meeting his wife, Caitland in Texas, who is originally from Denison, they decided to move back to Iowa two years ago to be closer to her family. He was working in the Fort Dodge correctional facility before becoming a police officer with the Jefferson Police Department. He explains why he wanted to go into law enforcement.

“I really started pursuing law enforcement in 2013. I took a few courses in college and it peaked my interest. But when I moved from Texas to Iowa I knew getting in with the PD early would be tough because it would be quick, because we needed jobs quick. We moved, I needed a job and I knew corrections would be a good start. I knew I wanted to move from corrections to law enforcement, but I knew it was a good step.”

His wife is a Fort Dodge Police Officer. Because Jefferson has a 15-20 minute response time to be an officer, the Keelands will have to move and locate between both of their work locations.

Paul replaces Kyle Terlouw, who resigned earlier this year to take employment with another police department.