IUPD Chief Keith Cash dies Wednesday

IU Police Department Chief Keith Cash died Wednesday around 6:20 p.m. of a heart problem after being transported to IU-Health Bloomington Hospital. He was 50 years old and a 29-year veteran of IUPD.

Monroe County Coroner Nicole Meyer said after the autopsy that Cash died of natural causes as a result of of aortic stenosis.

IUPD Deputy Chief of Police Laury Flint is serving as acting police chief until a permanent successor is found.

“Keith served Indiana University with enormous distinction and honor for nearly three decades culminating in a highly successful, and all too short, tenure as chief,” IU President Michael McRobbie said in a statement. “Keith’s love for this University, and the Bloomington campus in particular, was apparent to all who knew him. Our deepest sympathies go out to his family members. He will be greatly missed, and we all grieve at the loss of such a wonderful man.”

Cash was a native of Jeffersonville, Ind. He earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in criminal justice from IU-Bloomington, and he graduated from the FBI National Academy in 2004.

In 2010, he was appointed police chief for IUPD, after years of service as a patrol officer beginning in 1984.

He was also an instructor at IU, as well as a guest lecturer in classes, and an instructor at IU Police Academy.

He served on the Board of the Indiana Association of Indiana Chiefs of Police and was a member of the International Association of Chiefs of Police.

In 2011, Cash received the Trevor R. Brown Award, an honor given by IU student media for his support of student journalism.

“We are shocked and deeply, deeply saddened,” said Mark Land, associate vice president of IU Communications. “Not only is Keith great at his job, he was a great friend to many people here, around town and on the campus. Our thoughts go out to his family.”

Cash is survived by his mother, Judy Cash, his father, Tom Cash, his brother, Mike Cash, and another  brother and sister-in-law, Steve and Nancy Cash. Funeral arrangements are pending.

Jerry Minger, public safety director for IU, said Cash treated the entire IUPD force as extended family.

“He had a close relationship with everybody, not just the police department,” Minger said. “He maintained relationships like that with every entity of the University that he dealt with. Tonight I can’t tell you how many phone calls and emails we’ve fielded from many people outside of IU.”