The Marshalltown Police Department will soon be getting professional advice on preparing its policy manual.

Marshalltown Police Chief Mike Tupper received permission from city councilors last week to hire a consultant — Lexipol Police Policy Services — to help officers prepare the in-house policy manual, and perhaps prevent a future lawsuit against the department.

Tupper said part of his motivation to hire a consultant came from a recent law enforcement workshop.

“The presenter was an attorney who specialized in filing lawsuits against police departments,” he said. “And what police officers do on a daily basis presents a lot of liability for the city. We want to make sure we are doing things correctly.”

Tupper said the MPD has a good policy writing team now made up of officers. However, Lexipol will provide a lawyer on the policy development team.

“We have never had legal assistance from lawyers who specialize helping us develop a best practices policy manual,” Tupper said.

Tupper said now was a good time to review the manual approximately 300 pages long and bring it up to date.

“Right now we have a policy manual which has been added to and put together over 20 years and probably needs some work,” Tupper said.

At-Large Councilor Bill Martin asked Tupper if the MPD could work with Lexipol for one year, review accomplishments and report back for consideration to renew a second year.

Yes, was Tupper’s response.

“A grant program sponsored by the Iowa Communities Assurances Pool will pay $7,500 toward the $13,000 Lexipol expense for one year of service,” Tupper said.

The city is eligible for $5,000 per year from ICAP should it renew for the second and third year.