Nathan Schwiethale

Officer Nate Schwiethale has worked for the largest city in the state for 23 years. He received his Bachelor of Science degree in Criminal Justice with an emphasis in community policing in 1999. In 2001 Officer Schwiethale joined the police department and was assigned to work patrol in downtown where he has remained his entire career. He was one of the first officers in his department to be trained and selected to be on the Crisis Intervention Team (CIT) which equips officers to assist mentally ill individuals effectively during police interactions.

While patrolling downtown his entire career, Officer Schwiethale gained extensive knowledge working with the homeless. In 2006 he joined the community policing unit that proactively solves problems in collaboration with businesses and citizens. Locally, Officer Schwiethale is a member of multiple homeless organizations including the Advocates to End Chronic Homelessness, The Continuum of Care Coordination Team, and the Taskforce to End Chronic Homelessness.

In 2011 Officer Schwiethale received specialized training and certifications in police related Homeless Outreach Teams, and in 2013 he created and developed the Police Department's Homeless Outreach Team (H.O.T.). It is a police unit with a full-time team of four officers that work in partnership with homeless service providers to refer homeless individuals to resources and programs to help them out of homelessness and ultimately into permanent housing. To date, H.O.T. has helped over 1,500 homeless off the streets and into permanent or transitional housing while reducing the chronic homeless population by 68%.

The Homeless Outreach Team has been recognized by the Department of Justice for decriminalizing homelessness and listed as a best practice on the COPS website. It has been featured in numerous articles, national news, magazines, and TV shows. It was recognized by the United States Interagency Council on Homelessness as being a best practice in law enforcement and Officer Schwiethale was recently added to the federal government’s Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration advisory board to draft training materials for police agencies across the nation that want to adopt a H.O.T. program. The Police Department’s H.O.T. program has been a model for other police agencies, such as Salt Lake City, Utah; Lubbock, Texas; and Springfield, Illinois.

Officer Schwiethale has received Officer of the Year Awards from his Police Department, the Crime Commission, and the National Alliance on Mental Illness. He was also nominated for “Hero of the Year” by the American Red Cross. Officer Schwiethale is currently a Homeless Outreach Team consultant for the International Association of Chiefs of Police and is a member of the National Advisory Board for the Department of Justice & COPS.