HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-13-2001 Articles
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Thursday, March 8, 2001
Page 1 A
I.C. police to expand
traffic-stop data
Officers record information about the drivers they
stop to prevent racial profiling, the police chief says.
By Jackie Hammers
The Daily lowan
In order to obtain more information on the practices
of Iowa City police, beginning on April 1, the
department plans to expand the information it collects
when officers pull drivers over.
~,,, _.~ Officers will fill in forms to record the age of the
driver, date and time of contact, outcome of the stop,
li whether the officer requested a search of the vehicle,
:!!:ii~'~{!5: :ifi~i:::!i :: ii;!!:::~:;if the officer searched the vehicle and if anything was
seized. Officers have recorded the sex and race of
drivers in traffic stops since August 1999.
"We want to know reasons for stops even ira ticket
isn't issued," Police ChiefR.J. Winkelhake said. "This
is not a time-consuming thing. (The form) is set up
mostly with check boxes, and an officer can fill this
out relatively quickly."
As Iowa City police plan to expand the records they
keep of people they pull over, officials stressed that
they will not do any racial profiling, calling it
"inexcusable."
Racial profiling is the practice of skin-color
I i,l'.l 3/8.'01 I 1'55 AM
discrimination based on the incorrect belief that
minorities commit more crimes.
"We want to develop an early warning system,
something we can look at -- and if we see a flag there,
do sonmthing about it," Winkelhake said.
Police Set. Sid Jackson said police need to ensure
that racial profiling is not a problem in lowa City.
"There is real and anecdotal evidence to suggest it
occurs around the country," he said. "The Iowa City
Police Department has to demonstrate in work and
action its commitment to ethical and unbiased law
enforcement tbr all members of the community."
The information on the new form is similar to what
would be required if state legislators passed a bill
requiring that officers record intbrmation about
drivers they come in contact with. The bill is in the
Senate
The only difference between the Iowa City form and
the proposed measure is that the bill would require
officers to hand out business cards to all drivers they
have contact with. Winkelhake said business cards are
often unnecessary because anyone receiving a ticket
or warning would already have information about an
officer on the paperwork they receive.
Because officers may pull drivers over for not
wearing their seat belts and then end up conducting a
search of the vehicle, some Iowa City residents are
concerned that the new record-keeping system, as
well as the bill, if passed, could have a negative
impact.
"My concern is that an officer can almost always find
an objective reason to hide a subjective motivation for
pulling someone over," said Bruce Nestor, an
attorney.
Police will begin using the forms next month, but the
information will not be released to the public until
after May's intbnnation is gathered, Winkelhake said.
He said April's data will likely contain too many
errors to be usable, because of officers' unfamiliarity
with the new forms.
DI reporter Jackie Hammers can be reached at:
· ,,f3 3/801 I ! 55 AM
"lhc Daily lo~',an - l'he [Jnivt~rs~iy of Io~a. Iowa Cily. Io~a hllp:!:www.dailyio~.an.~zom
jackie hammers@hotmail.com
Copyright 2001 The Daily lowan
No redistribution without the Consent of The Daily
lowan
Website problems? Email us,
Newsroom eraall. Eraall us.
~ ,if3 3 g~H II '55 AM
Local '""'
""ThUrsday,
March 8,
Iowa City Press-Citizen 2oo~
'P o lice discuss
racial profiling
Data ~.~,o,...,o=,
mr c~c ce.t~ ', ~ ~ ,-~g co.~,,'~ ~t ~o=~ Vehicle ~op
Data collection ~ ~., the, ,~ mentp~c~u~lo~
~11 e~and ~.~ d~ent n~ ~ From 3A foUo~ng~o ..~. i~mation
do -- t~t eveW sheds Complm~ of ~ ~d ~
ment'seffom W~ at S~ DATA, ~
Nation/World
Iowa City Press-Citizenr, no.aay, February a6, aOO:tPage 6A
Study: Co ty policing doubles
Th~ Assoe/awd Press adck'ess crime. which may account for somecent in 1997.
, ~ ~ ~ ~o~b~ On the Net of m~ m¢~ ~ ~ .~- s~t~ .-d ,o~
WASHINGTON -- The the number in1997, when34 berc~fofficersdoin~commu- departments had nearly
number of police depart- percent of all departments · Bureau of Justice nity policing. 113,000 police officers
mentsusingcomm~-ffcypolic- had community policing $taUsljc Under the new defmi- engagedincommunitypolic-
ing nearly doubled between In community policing, tion, about a third of all ing activities in 1999, cora-
1997 and 1999, a Justice law-enforcement ageneAes http://www. ojp.uscloJ.gov local police departments pared to just 21,000 in 1997,
Department study ~xds~ wy to be more active in deal- /bj$ had haft of their officers the study said. The total
~' repozl by the Justice ing with crime by placing doing community police includes newly hired com-
Depaxtment's Bureau of more Ix>lice officers on the work in 1999, compared to munity police officexs and
Justice Statistics released street and working citizen, programs and regular meet- just 7 percent of all depart- existing officers who were
_S~day showed 64 percent government, church a~cl ings between police aad c~- merits two years earlier, the transferred to community
'ocal police deparUnents business groups on crime zen gr~ups~ report said. policing ~n addition to other
'99 had police patrolling prevention. Examples of The Justice Department The percentage of offi- duties.
. .nborhoods on foot or community policing efforts bz~adened its definition of cers serving as coramunjty The report ~s based on a
bicycle or had programs to include foot and bicycle communi~ policing in 1999 police also increased to 21 study of 3,246 state aad local
work with local groups to paWoh, nighttime necreation forthepurposesofthestudy, percent in 1999 from 4 per- enforcement agencies.
,~B · The Gazette, Sun., Feb. 25, 2oO1
Council O.K'S iracial
profiling resolution
~__~,. ~ By Nathan HIll ira mailbox is blocked b~ a
:~p~ ,I I: Gazette st~ff writer v~]~dc]e:Assjstant Pla~u'lh~
~1 : crrY --
0y~A The City ,~z'e~,.~ ~I~e~ David~n ~d the
~ · Cotmcfl~:approved a resolution c0U~dil 'at its Monday.. work
Tuesday on racial proffiing. session.
The resolution, written by "What happened to the post-
council member Ross Wilburn, man's credo?" responded coun-
t e q u i r e s cil member Steven Kanner.
that the Po- The council decided that th-
lice Depart- stead of creating a new law,
ment con- ,notices could be sent to resi-
duct regular dents in their water bills that
e x a m i n a- wodld tell them not to block
tions of traf- mailboxes.
~c enforce-
ment to
ensure offi-
cers aren't w~Nw. Gozefie0nllne.com
USing Facial proFLIing in traffic
and pedestrian stops.
Only council member Irvin
Pfab voted against the measure
at Tuesday's formal meeting,
saying Wilbu~n's resolution
wasn't worded strongly
enough.
Meanwhile, the Police De-
partment has scheduled a pub-
lic presentation about its initia-
tives to address racial profiling.
The presentation will be
made by Police Chief B.J. Win-
kelhake and Sgt Sid Jackson.
It begins at ? p.m. Mm'chTin
the Civic Center eauncll cham-
bors, 410 E. Washington St.
Winkelbake said police have
already taken a statewide lead-
ership role in dealing with
racial proFding. The depart-
ment already compiles race
and sex demographic informa-
tion on drivers stopped by
The totals f~om 2000 were:
8,583' white males; 839 black
males; 244 Hispanic males; 293
Asian males; 172 males of other
origins; 41 males whose Face
was unknown; 5,184 white fe-
males; 3~8 black females;
~Iispanic fernales; 138 Asian f~
~45 females of other ori-
'f L5 fern~k~ whose race
~'~known; and ~t~elpeople
Classifieds Search Ad kffo Staff Sehdarship Sebscribe Job Ops C,<xltact Us
Daily
.... -. . .. .. ..., .
|Igh',l=l~ ~dnesday February 21,2,001 Updated 11: I 0 a.m.
Wednesday, February 2 I, 200 I
Page 1 A
Citizens decry I.C. police
tactics
Local residents express concern over police "knock
and talks" to the City Council.
By Megan L. Eckhardt
The Daily lowan
An lowa City resident told the Iowa City City Council
that police came to his doorstep and waited for him to
do something illegal.
Richard Zimmcrmann was one of many local residents
who voiced his concern about such "knock and talks"
-- one of the requirements for local police to receive a
grant from the Johnson County Multi-Agency Drug
Task Force.
Iowa City pol ice have received the grant for I 0 years,
and they have included it in their budget for the
upcoming fiscal year. The council's hearing Tuesday
aimed to gather feedback on its proposed budget for
the next fiscal year.
The approximately $80,000 grant instructs the task
force to arrest 45 individuals for felony drug
violations, conduct 25 controlled buys to identify
individuals involved in the distribution of illicit drugs,
conduct 45 "knock and talks," which police assert is a
procedure executed when the department receives
complaints from neighbors or after garbage searci~es,
and to execute 20 search warrants to develop illicit
dntg cases during the grant year.
"The police stood on my porch and just waited for
something illegal to happen," Zimmermann said. "We
don't want to see a more intrusive police department.
This is a grant we would like to see thrown out of the
budget."
Police Chief RJ. Winkelhake said that although the
department has received the grant without meeting the
requirements in the past, it is quite possible funds may
not be received if the quotas aren't met. The funding
helps pay for salaries or benefits for police employees,
he said
"(A pro) is it gives us money to do work," he said. "If
we
didn't have the grant, the money would have to come
out of the general fund"
Lone Tree resident and long-time community activist
Carol deProsse said the police do a lot of good things
for the community, but that this grant was a negative
aspect of the city.
"This is not helping the image of Iowa City." she said.
"No one wants to think their garbage can be searched"
Councilor Steven Kanner said he was very. concerned
about tile ol~jectives of the grant and hoped tile
council would consider residents' remarks.
"I heard about the grant, and tbat's not tile way I want
Iowa City to operate," he said. "I don't think Iowa City
wauts to conduct business like that. It's a slippery
slope, and we have to make sure we protect privacy."
Mayor Ernie Lehman said he didn't have a huge
concern because of its relation to the budget, but he
was curious about the grant.
"This is more of a policy issue," he said. "It has little
or no effect on the budget."
Later iu tile meeting, approximately 10 residents
addressed the council about its proposed ordinance
aimed to decrease underage and hinge drinking in the
city. It was the second public hearing on the issue.
Leah Cohen, the owner of Bo-James Restaurant, I 18
E. Washington Ave., said that although she is glad the
council is considering steps to curb underage and
bmge drinking, she is still apprehensive about the
ordinance.
"When I see an ordinance that makes me rely on 50 to
75 employees' actions, that makes me a little nervous,"
she said.
She added that the undercover stings are not clearly
dictated, and they add to her nervousness.
"We need a clearly written enforcement code so our
jobs aren't in others' hands," Cohen said.
DI reporter Megan L. Eckhard/can be reached at:
megan-eckhardt- I ~ui owa. edu
Copyright 2001 The Daily lowan
No redistribution without the Consent of The Daily
lowan
Website problems? Email us.
Newsroom email. Email us.
PreSs-Citizen
Ci~ sUpportspolice:monitoring
Pro osal ~"
to protect. , ,..
against racial
profiling ""'"
Ity Anarew T. Dawson '~
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tohelpfurtherproteetci~'
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Press-Citizen
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City Counci~ td'~j~b'ii'~'5'mcaal PrOfiling',
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The Gazette, Fri., Feb. 9, 2001
Police dog has had
busy time on force
By Nathan Hill
a~e.~ ~arr ,,,,~t~, IOWA CITY
IOWA CITY .-- In his
third year of duty, Iowa buildh~g searches and three
City's police dog, Gallo, tracking situations. Once,
logged 97 drug searches, Gallo tracked an attempted
eight building Searches and breaking-and-entering sus-
12 public demonshmtions. pect from the suspect's vehi-
But Gallo's presence goes cle to the victim's neighbor-
beyond hood.
what can be The police dog was also
document- used in 12 public demonstra-
ed, said Po- tions for various groups and
lice Chief events. Gallo interacted with
R.J. Wh~kel- more than 1,000 youngsters
hake. It's last year at school and corn-
amazing, munity events, although he
for exam- nipped a 9-year-old on the
ple, how ann while playing with chil-
nallo calm people · dren at Hoover Elementary
~owa c~y get -- even School in April.
police ~og wild, Inebri-
ated people -- when faced Gallo is boarded with his
with the German shepherd. handler, Officer Ron Gist,
"Sometimes you have a when not on duty.'The do~s
violent situation, and Gallo food bill ran about $152 last
has a tendency to calm peo- year, and his veterinal'lan
ple down,"Winkelhake said. bill was $540. The ve~ bill
"Eve~a downtown. He's been was higher than normal
down there at times when cause Gallo suffered an
he's been needed by other testinal infection last year
officers." that sidelined him for about
A report released Thurs- a week, Winkelhake said,
day to the City Council Ga]lo may be dose to half-
shows that, in 2000, Gallo way tkrough his stint with
conducted 97 dm~..g searches, the ICPD. Winkelhake said
and drugs were found in 64 the usual length of a police
of them. Of the 97 searches, dog's career is five to seven
68 were vehicle searches; 23 years.
were In buildings or resi- "The department is
dences; and six were search- looking forward to another
es of articles, such as marl successful year for Gallo in
or handbags. his capacity with the depart-
Gallo was .used in eight ment," Winkelhake said.