Alumni Profile—Chris Jensen
posted on Monday, January 9, 2017 in
Alumni Profiles
Chris Jensen’s education and career were influenced greatly by his father, Jerry. A 14-year veteran of the Waterloo Police Department, it was Jerry Jensen who Hawkeye Institute of Technology hired to create the Police Science program in 1968.
Jerry became department chair, overseeing its expansion from humble beginnings on Commercial Street to its current home on Hawkeye’s main campus, which is where Chris Jensen enrolled in 1982.
“My greatest memories about Hawkeye Community College are all around the students and staff I interacted with,” Chris said. “The relationships and knowledge I gained from the various points of views and backgrounds help shape who I am today.”
Chris started working patrol for the Waterloo Police Department in 1984. In 1988, he joined the Phoenix Police Department, where he was a detective in their Drug Enforcement Bureau. Chis worked cases ranging from street level to international drug trafficking. He became system administrator for the department’s technical surveillance systems and became a certified intelligence analyst. He not only participated in some of the highest profile cases in the nation but helped shape technologies still utilized by law enforcement today.
His last project before retirement in 2008 was to provide the wireless and surveillance video for Super Bowl XLII. Since retiring from the police force, Chris has worked as a security consultant and is today director of the Federal Law Enforcement Team with Hitachi Data Systems. He also speaks to international groups on law enforcement technology and investigative techniques.
In 2009, Chris and his siblings honored their late parents by establishing the Jerry and JoAnn Jensen Endowment with the Hawkeye Community College Foundation. The endowment will provide scholarships for Police Science students, honoring their parents and helping prepare the next generation of police officers.
“Approach each class as though it is the most important to your career,” is his advice to future Police Science students. “Remember what you do at Hawkeye will follow you your entire professional life.”