Help Shape the Future of Iowa City’s Police

The preliminary plan to restructure Iowa City’s Police Department was released on December 15, 2020, and is about 250 pages, with 36 recommendations.

One year ago today I was sworn in as a new city councilor. With a background in city government, I thought I knew what I was signing up for: policy decisions on land use, infrastructure, climate action, and social justice.

This year included all of those things, but they became focused around emergency response to the unexpected: a global pandemic, nationwide reckoning with racial injustice, an inland hurricane, and unprecedented threats to our democracy. While all these issues are much bigger than our city, they also required local government response, sometimes as the only government response, and sometimes at odds with our state and federal officials. I watched Mayor Bruce Teague deftly navigate being one of the first to implement a mask mandate. I saw him negotiate through the height of the protests, as community members, local law enforcement, and Iowa State Patrol responded to the same events with wildly different actions.

With each challenge, racial injustice plays a role. It is a thread woven into Iowa City’s past and present. It requires concerted action to pull out, examine, and try to fix. As our community responded to the murder of George Floyd, on June 16 Iowa City’s city council unanimously passed a Resolution with a number of actions to address systemic racism.

Progress (intended to be on-going and long-term) on these actions can be tracked at icgov.org/BLM. The newly formed Iowa City Truth and Reconciliation Commission will help do the work of identifying systems of inequity, and work towards community healing.

On the policy side, city council will adopt a plan to restructure Iowa City’s police department towards community policing. As promised this summer, there is a now a Preliminary Plan to Restructure the Police Department. I hope everyone takes some time to read and listen to our discussions, and contribute to the plan. If nothing else, it is worthwhile to know more about the department that comprises nearly one-quarter of Iowa City’s general fund expenditures.

The plan itself sits in the wider context I have outlined here, and is ready for public review, critique, and discussion. The plan has 36 recommendations (here is a summary), geared towards non-punitive public safety.

As a councilor, I need input on this plan. Please contact me and my colleagues directly, provide feedback online about the plan, and encourage your friends, family, and neighbors to do the same.