Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout03-13-2001 Articles ll,l~'~l~lt,Thursday Mgeh 8, ~001 Ulxlat~l a~'ttlill~,ll} 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 '~ -~ikely will ~ s r~olufion tohelpfurtherproteetci~' 'pm~ :~ce~ ~o;d" 'will Press-Citizen ~"~'~ Man leads police on ei~de chase City Counci~ td'~j~b'ii'~'5'mcaal PrOfiling', ~ N~ Hifi ,, '~ ~ ~t's ~t to ~e ~ ~r ~ve a ~ s~mme~" ~d IOWA C~ -- ' ~ Wab~ "I ~ow ~h ~ a mem~ ~ Wfib~ ~ ~- mn~ ~on~de, ~d ~e ~. ' ~e depaameni ~ady ~ ~ ~e ~m ~mpfl~ ~ ~d ~ ~m~ at a m~ Fffic ~om~on on ~v- ~r ~ ~ stop~ by ~U~ ~. mon~ ~ ~cfi mem~n ~ ~- Council ~ ~e ~r ~ at a members m~ ~y. ~y a~ee- able. ~ sU~ ~t ~ Io~ ~t ~c ~d ~ ~ffi~. *' IOWA C~ -- A ~m ~ ~ ~ ~. 10, w~ ~ J~ a~ ,,~ ~, f~ ~ ~ ~ Deputy Steve ~ ~We have ~ ~ ~ a mu~ ~ ~ ~d which Seeman deify s~i We ~ ~ ~, ~ IOnSON CO~ ~. · need to be dr~w~'b~t .' ~ h now ' ~' P The Sher~S i~to the rial~ofwh~: : ~-~ ~ ~t ~ ~ ~ ~ g ~e Io~ M~ ~ 1~ ~ ~pu~, ~ ~ ~ how ~ ~o~ Dus~ ~wl~ ~d CI~ ran, d~ , ~: ' .~ 5 ~ ~ h ~- ~n~ at ~. ' ~s dep~ ~ h~' shootout ~ ~e ~ff~' .Law e~orci- Danger: 'T~c stopS"~c'cx~cmcly unpre~cmb~[si~a~ons: ~' ' ~ ~ lt's ~ ~ ~ z~, ~ ~.~'d~- ' "' - ! -- . ~,"~ .~ ~-. ',X ,.',, ~~.... . . . 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.