Former police officer challenges state’s efforts to decertify him for alleged ‘lies’

A former Iowa police officer, fired for alleged dishonesty and incompetence after a 2021 traffic accident, is now suing the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Council for revoking his certification as an Iowa officer.

Court records indicate that in 2021, Robert Roquet was working as both a full-time police officer for the City of Jesup and as a part-time officer for the Meskwaki Nation Police Department. According to police reports, on the evening of Dec. 9, 2021, Roquet was patrolling rural Tama County for the Meskwaki department when he drove off a rural road and crashed his patrol car into a fence while traveling at a rate of 73 miles per hour in a 55-mile-per-hour zone.

Police alleged Roquet explained to the investigating officers he had lost control of the car after swerving to avoid a deer in the road. The police reports indicate there was a University of Iowa basketball game being broadcast on the radio inside Roquet’s patrol car when the accident happened.

Investigators later reported that dash-cam video captured just before the accident showed no signs of a deer in the road and showed no signs of Roquet swerving.

Instead, investigators reported, the video showed the patrol car drifting over the center line, then back into its lane, then crossing the oncoming lane of traffic while failing to negotiate a curve in the road. According to police, the video shows the vehicle leaving the road and entering a ditch, with Roquet saying “S—” eight times as his patrol car traveled through a field and then hit a fence.

The accident caused roughly $20,000 in damage to the vehicle, according to state records. A few weeks after the accident, in January 2022, the Meskwaki department fired Roquet, citing what it called dishonesty and “provable lies.”  Roquet was then issued citations for failure to maintain control of his vehicle and for filing a false police report. Those charges were later dismissed when a judge concluded they had not been filed under oath or accompanied by a properly sworn written complaint.

In April 2022, the Jesup City Council voted to fire Roquet from the city’s police department, alleging incompetence. Roquet immediately sued the city, which later agreed to pay him $35,000 to settle the case, according to court records.

Judge: ‘Decertification is too harsh’

After state officials initiated steps to decertify Roquet as an Iowa police officer, Roquet appealed and in May 2025, the matter went before Administrative Law Judge Forrest Guddall for a hearing.

In July 2025, Guddall concluded that Roquet’s actions warranted a two-week suspension of his certification as an Iowa law enforcement officer, ruling that the “only explanation for the accident” was Roquet being distracted, “perhaps by thinking he saw a deer,” and engaging in reckless driving.

“Outright decertification is too harsh and unjustified,” Guddall stated in his decision. “(Roquet) did not state a knowing falsehood; he simply acted, or drove, with gross negligence or incompetence.”

In April 2026, the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy Council rejected that conclusion, finding the dash-cam video showed that not only were there no deer in the roadway before the accident, but that Roquet had never swerved to avoid what he may have believed to be a deer.

Roquet, the council stated in its decision to revoke his certification, had “lied in his report and lied to another officer immediately after the incident … His alleged false statements amount to insubordination, incompetence and gross misconduct.”

That decision triggered the recently filed lawsuit in which Roquet is challenging the constitutionality of the council’s rules and its jurisdiction in the matter. The council’s decision, the lawsuit contends, is either based upon an erroneous interpretation of law or is not supported by substantial evidence.

The lawsuit asks the court to order the council to immediately reinstate Roquet’s certification, remove the revocation and proposed suspension from his official record, and also “clear his name.”

The council has denied any wrongdoing. A court hearing on the matter is scheduled for Sept. 25, 2026.

Roquet hired by City of Madrid

Almost two years after the accident, in October 2023, Roquet was hired by the City of Madrid as a part-time police officer.

State records indicate Madrid Police Chief Richard Tasler testified at Roquet’s administrative hearing that before he decided to hire Roquet, he did not review any information from either the Meskwaki or Jesup police departments about their decision to fire Roquet.

“I did not ask Meskwaki anything about that,” Tasler testified, according to a hearing transcript. “No questions. All the information that I got on this case I got from Officer Roquet in the interview.”

When Judge Guddall asked Tasler to confirm he had not reviewed any records from either the Meskwaki Nation Police Department or the Jesup Police Department before hiring Roquet, Tasler said that was correct.

“Yes, sir, I have not seen any of that, and I do not ask (for) that information on a call because I don’t believe they can release that information to me anyway,” he testified. “I don’t think that is public record, so even if I asked, I don’t think they can release that to me.”

Tasler testified that Roquet’s experience as police officer in a small town is what made him “so desirable” as a Madrid officer.

“I don’t want to hire a metro officer to come into my city and write 20 tickets, like he’s used to, every day,” Tasler testified. “We can’t have that if I’m on a vacation and stuff like that because I would literally have 10 people in my office that Monday saying, ‘This officer wrote me for six over,’ or, ‘This officer wrote me a seat-belt (ticket) when I was going to the cafe to get lunch when I live two blocks away.’ I would be fielding complaints (about) that officer the next day.”

Tasler also testified that if he “could have four Officer Roquets, I would hire them today … He’s very dedicated to small-town law enforcement. He doesn’t come in and stir stuff up. He comes in, does his job, he does it very well. He’s very active in the community, meaning he’s putting miles on the car. He puts twice as many miles on as I do in a shift.”