Head of CPD drug investigations is finalist for Iowa police chief job — and is saddled with mountain of debt

A Chicago police commander of major narcotics investigations was struggling with almost $840,000 in debt earlier this year, including more than $30,000 in taxes he owed the IRS, according to bankruptcy records.

Joshua Wallace, 50, is one of the two finalists to become the next police chief in Des Moines, Iowa. On Wednesday, the Des Moines Register newspaper first reported on Wallace’s bankruptcy filing in February.

Wallace earned $181,000 from the Chicago Police Department last year, the records show. He was selected last year to become the commander of the department's Criminal Networks Group, a unit that oversees joint narcotics and gang operations between the police department's counterterrorism bureau and federal and local law enforcement agencies.

His debt raises questions because in the past, the police department routinely vetted the credit history and financial background of officers who investigate narcotics trafficking, law enforcement sources said.

They said large debts can be a disqualifying factor because of the potential for an officer to pilfer money from police funds seized in drug cases in order to pay off debts. Police applicants who have big debts are often rejected from entering the training academy, city records show.

"An officer might have $10,000 in student loan debt, and he discloses it, and we were fine with that," one high-ranking former police department official said. "It's a judgment call. But close to a million in debt? I don't know about that."

No one has accused Wallace of wrongdoing.

In a brief interview, Wallace said he's "unaware" of whether his police superiors knew of his debt before he got his current job on Sept. 1, 2023. He filed his bankruptcy petition about six months later, on Feb. 29.

“It’s a personal matter that was the best option for me when I was going through a rough divorce,” Wallace said Thursday. “The debt has been restructured and is being repaid. It’s unfortunate, it’s embarrassing, and it’s personal.”

A police department spokesperson declined to comment.

This year, Wallace also applied to become the police chief in Austin, Texas. A Cincinnati police official got that job in August.

In February, Wallace hired the well-known Geraci law firm to file a federal bankruptcy petition declaring he was $839,735 in debt. His biggest liability was the $452,000 mortgage on his $364,000 home in Beverly, the filing said.

He also owed $236,000 for student loans, plus about $95,000 to credit card companies and banks. JPMorgan Chase Bank sued him last year in Cook County court to recover a $23,000 credit card debt. The bank dropped the lawsuit because of the bankruptcy filing.

Wallace, a former commander of the Wentworth District on the South Side, had $565,000 in assets, according to his bankruptcy filing.

Contributing: Tom Schuba