HomeMy WebLinkAbout11-09-1999 ArticlesIowa TODM"'
■ The Gazette. Sun., Oct. 31, 1999
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Police go
to video
In -car cameras provide
protection, evidence
By Lynn M. Tel
Gazeue san wine,
IO(C.-t ('I"fA' - Note that they ve, had time
I'.r "'i re Tit with m-car video cmneras
and msr.dl Ihent III more carsareapolice
11 1i1 ,. v the devu'es arc deh,e,ing more
Ih:m cspccted.
"I I, really sold on them-' said Iowa Ca,,
Ioth,iti "I'n"I Widmer
%e lint, s nd that as a result of all traffic
argrs heeg , ideutaped, he has spent less lime
evesugaung complaints against officers Pen
plc who clan, they were mistreated. Widmer
.nie. sonrewnes change their minds about fit
rg it nal complaints after they're shown
I,, , of .chat happened.
put helping to resolve complaints without
n It trihc bureaucratic process is only one of
Thn tit It henefns of the cameras. uRclals
end 'fhr devices also protect ot➢cers and cut
van.- dvly s;rid- and provide evidence for use
later "I leout Irials.
"I'he Iowa Slate Pa 1, of has used the cam-
ortc.. which cost a olind $5.000 aprece. for so
en roars Localm departments began installing
th, r.ur,,,, about Ihree trus ago, with the
h'1ip tt gram. 'I'hr lov,o City ('olio• Depart
enI nu,e has a Tamers for every car on ev.
t It.1101 Ibuugh currently the dep0 rb;renl is
odeµ Then, back Ihree:u n time Ion n pates
b•. 1IIr In ant fu tonel'
I T u alcdlo Poo, v Departmemt hots Iwo
reno-rx, �uul the [ il" it, of Iowa Dopart
T ul Pllhhc sAls Ira. one The Johnson
Ilu n tiIi, it-, Impart lncnl has no ctnncras
)u lo i I I I ono re boy'ms hi ,Tool , liat
Lnpp''Ilmg III OTuo ul Ih,. t'.II a, won a, Ihc�
'kill,' I I,Inn n , othe ran r,,hu, lights. The
Mir, 'l,u inn arucatr the c Iinvi a v alinut
on the hghls A rutI,ihanc woos 1.,
tlm 'Iha r I. ruI-ds The .nunds m :, mull,
a. ql
lk ldluer ,:ud "t. romplaints luzigzsl against
Ih• I'n,:I (City de .."Intent ham Ill n"ol"'d
Ins sum dkontulls the egos In one
"' allr;,rd ;to uffe', made map
The Iowa City Police
Department is among a
growing number of de-
partments in Iowa using
ini video cameras.
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`.t11 1 t ILIr „ I'rlll Ihr u ell n nd ,hit„ A monitor hooked up to an in car video camera records Officer Dave Nixon of the Iowa City Police
m," 1,t .:Clod ,, Af nh,LI Department conducting a field sobriety test Tuesday in Iowa City- The camera begins recording what is
happening in front of the car when the officer turns on the ear's flashing lights. The officer also can
■ Ii..... to I.'it Cameras activate the camera without turning on the lights. A microphone worn by the officer records the stop.
�AGi✓ I o{ Z
said He said he was able to
e�xplam to the woman that the
nlficei was ollering her a break.
not expressing sexual uttered
in her as she alleged.
In another Instance, a woman
was convinced her car should
not have been towed. After Offt
cer Harry Huff showed her his
videotape of the scene, she ac
knowedged the car jutted into a
no parking zone
As soon as the video started
rummme she was apologetic."
Huff said It was cloar the car
was past the sign...
Huns superiors praise him
coming up with the idea of
videotalnng illegally parked ve
hides hi•Im'e towing them.
"I got the camera. so I figured
I might ns well put it to Band
use said Huff, who films about
n roman. of each vehicle he
tells
l'he cameras also protect of,
(crs. olfo'ials Saul. because
someone contemplating violence
against an officer may be de,
terred if he or she knows it will
be on tape
And If the camera is rum
ning and we don't have time to
get backup there, and an officer
is hurt, we'd have that on film."
said Chuck Green, director of
public safety at the HI.
The cameras also offer proles
lion to the public. Widmer said.
If an officer does something
wrong. I want to know about
it, he said. This lets us cut to
the chase and not turn things
into a he said, she said'
match *
The videotape shouldn't be
necessary in that type of in-
stance. said Iowa City officer
and police union president Dan
Dreckman. adding the union
doesn t oppose the cameras.
Out word isn't worth any-
thing anymore." Dreckman
said. It has to be recorded.
That's um bad.'
Said Widmer. We say. We
have full confidence in you as
officers. Your behavior is exem
plary, This will protect you.
Dreckman acknowledged the
tapes do offer officers some pro
tection.
Widmer noted that his depart
ment also has found another
use for the camera's micro-
phone.. Officers can now record
a building searches or domestic
abuse calls. where facts are
often disputed and extra darn
montation of what happened is
ideal.
While police officials also
touted the fact that the tapes
can be used in court. Johnson
County Attorney J Patrick
White said he doesn't believe
they have much evidentiary val
no
The quality of ine tapes is
mediocre." White said, adding
he leaves it up to departments
to decide whether the)' need the
cameras for protect officers nr
document their behavior.
"Sometimes there's a picture
and no sound. and sometimes
theres sound and no picture.
White said 'You don I get rho
kind of quality ymi want as an
evidentiary item.
Attorney.J Dean Keegan or
Iowa City begs to differ "If the
tapes are not helping in the
prosecution. maybe thev're
helping the accused, showing
they're not guilty of what
they're accused oC' Keegan
said.
Keegan. who has used the
Officer Dave Nixon of the Iowa City Police Department looks at a monitor hooked up to an
in -car camera (white box at top right). The Police Department keeps videos on file for 110
days. 20 days beyond the deadline to file a complaint with the Police Citizens Review Board.
tapes as evidence in drunken
driving trials. said a tape offers
a view of what happened at a
traffic stop, in addition to the
officer's report.
"I'd rather be dealing with
ob)ective evidence than the sub
)cctive recollection of a witness
for the prosecution:' he said.
'They re not unbiased.
-'I don I have a problem with
a Nry seeing a tape of what
happened." Keegan said. "I'd
lather have that. If they find
mT client guilty, fine.'
Though he has not used a
tape in a .Johnson Coun t, case.
Keegan said some of his clients
Kate been acquired in Cedar
:...it Linn counties after the in
r ics witched ITnmge from the
rural cameras
Widmer said the Iowa Cu)
de Pam rtent will keep the videos
nn file for Im days. 20 days
longer than the deadline to file
a complaint with the Police
Citizens Review Board, before
recvchng them. He estimated
there will about 1,200 ulens on
file. adding that only supervi
sots will have access to the
storage area.
Police sold on idea
By Steve Gravelle
Garen% star „r.ie1
iawatha Police Chief Dave Saari s:utl the video
cameras installed late this sumaior to his
dc•Partineut's 10 Patrol cars have atready proved
their wm'th.
The City Council approved uva,111 a the unim at a
cost of about $4a00 each. in JuIv
"1 think it's already saved nxi net Ibr the Mr." said
Saari. He said . ideatzlres have already headed off two
potential legal challenges to ua R'ir snips
Cedar Rapids has had similar result% since
Installing cameras in four squad cars :issigned to
tralftc duty. according to 1.1 Steye Feldman.
Our conviction torte and our prcua.d agree ... cuts
Ito plead go iltvi:ve a lot higher s:wl foldutan The
athu neys see their clients lallue, down drunk-' and
drop plans to mount a defense
Feldman stud Tong range plans ]nY to ryuip all 11 of
the depal Ian ors Cars ass tgn ell w IIaf is duty.
Idnu ('.oitnly ShcIIIT Don %vIIei sand ho's seeking
grants to install cameras in hen w three name cars -
The depar t.. rent installed cun.cr.is I InI ems about
three Year. ;ma
Pf1G E Z Of Z
The Gazette, Sun., Oct. 31, 1999 7A ■
OPINION
GAZETTE EDITORIALS
Camera a useful tool
for law enforcement
S PRESIDENT of the union representing Iowa
City police officers, Officer Dan Dreckman has
a lament about using vehicle -mounted video
cameras to help resolve citizen accusations against
officers. (See the story by Lynn Tefft, on page 1B.)
"Our word isn't worth anything anymore," Dreck-
man told The Iowa City Gazette. "It has to be
recorded. That's too bad."
It is, indeed, too bad. Unfortunately, it's another
example of declining
public respect for au -
Cameras, which have thority. But it illustrates
proven to be such an the advantage of official-
dom to, in a word, be
effective law prepared.
enforcement tool in . The cameras, which
the years they have have proven to be such
been used by the Iowa an effective law enforce -
Highway Patrol and ment tool in the years
they have been used by
other agencies, can, in the Iowa Highway Pa -
fact, protect officers trol and other agencies,
from bogus beefs by can, in fact, protect offi-
cers from bogus beefs by
angry customers. angry "customers."
Yes, there is the possi-
bility a cop will be
caught on tape doing something stupid, if not illegal.
It is good when they are caught, because such people
shouldn't be in law enforcement.
More important, however, are the times when the
camera captures circumstances of a high-speed chase,
a belligerent motorist, or, merely by its presence,
provides a deterrent against attacks on officers.
Ask officers in other jurisdictions, such as Hiawa-
tha and Cedar Rapids. Because the camera doesn't
lie, it is believed two legal challenges to arrests have
been averted in the few weeks Hiawatha officers have
had them. Word in Cedar Rapids is that there are
more convictions and pre-trial plea agreements since
videotaping of stops began.
The cameras have multiple uses. Iowa City Police
Capt. Tom Widmer, for example, told of using them
to verify, before having them towed, that vehicles
were illegally parked. Takes a lot of the steam out of
an irate owner who has just bailed his car out of the
impound lot.
Knowing Iowa City's efficiency for dispensing all
manner of parking tickets — not the least of which
involve overtime parking -- they'd better not start
filming those violations.
The department's badget couldn't afford enough
cameras.
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Icon asks Iowa City at -large and District C
city council candidates about everything
from the PCRB to First Avenue
Dee Vanderhoef and Char -
con talked to the at -large candidates
lie Major, on the other hand,
for Iowa City City Council (incum-
are unwilling to commit to
bent Dee Vanderhoef and challeng-
such a suggestion. In fact, they
ers Charlie Major and Steven Kan-
are holding their counsel until
ner) and the District C candidates
the board's mandatory review
(incumbent Dean Thombeny and
in two years. "We're doing a
challenger Irvin Pfab) and presented each with
good job with the police force,
the same five questions: What would you like
but we could do better,"
to see happen to the Police Citizens Review
Vanderhoef, the incumbent,
Board in the next term? Does downtown need
said. "I support it until we have
more parking? Do you support
a total review." Major said: "I
a referendum to pay for ex-
would like to see us make the
pansion of the public library
process easier, but it seems to
and what form would you like
be working well." Along the
that expansion to take?
same lines, he added: "I like
Should Iowa City do more to
what they're doing in some
curb urban sprawl? And, final-
ways. In others, I want to give
ly, do you support extending
them more power, and there
First Avenue through to North
are some things I would never
Dodge?
let them have, like the power to see police
At -large candidate Tim
files and personnel records."
Borchardt was unavailable
District C
for comment.
For Thomberry, one of the major concerns
1. What would You
re- _
volves around the board's cost to taxpayers.
"The
like tosee happen
PCRB in its first life has, 1 believe, heard
to thea PCRB?
in the neighborhood of nine complaints with
zs allegations, and only two of those allega-
The Police Citizens Review
tions were sustained," he said. "It has spent
Board (PCRB) is a council -appointed body
about $87,000, although we anticipate that
created after Iowa City artist Eric Shaw was
figure going down to $70,000 a year." Thorn -
fatally shot by a police officer in 1996. The
berry said that the absence of sustained allega.
board can sustain or dismiss citizen Com-
plaints about the police based on informs-
we have a very good police
tion revealed to the board by the police
department." He said he
chief's investigations.
does, however, support the
At -large
board's continued existence
"if
From the beginning, the limit of the board's
it's not going to be too
power has been fiercely negotiated. Green
expensive."
Pfab said that police
Party candidate Steven Kanner would like to
"I'd
officers, like other members
broaden the range of its power. like to see
of the community, need to
the board be able to recommend specific pun-
be held accountable for their
ishments," he said. "Right now it can't by or-
actions. And to his mind, he
dinance. It can recommend general actions,
said, the PCRB doesn't have
but beyond that, I want to have them be able
enough power yet to accom-
to recommend disciplinary actions that
plish that. "The community
would be appealable to the city council."
should have the right to get
the information it needs
and exam-
ine parties, and hopefully their
well -thought-out recommen-
dations and decisions will be
followed," he said.
t he Uady Iowan hap .-12ft25j 603G cgi-IM11 IA% eIQuaacgl$rcc 32723'I lonwPape
Thursday, October 7, 1999
Page 0
To serve and protect, despite perceptions
The UI Department of Public Safety confronts the challenges of gaining
respect.
By Gil Levy/The Daily Iowan
With almost twice as many arrests during the 1998-99 school year when compared
with the previous year, some UI students and Iowa City residents are feeling the
effects of the UI Department of Public Safety's attempt to establish itself as a
recognized police force.
But even with the higher number of arrests, students' perceptions of the department
are slow to change.
"They just seem like rent -a -cops," said UI sophomore John Hagaard. "I don't see the point of Public
Safety, they're cops, but they're not."
An increase in the number of liquor -law citations, from 93 to 288, and drug offenses, from 43 to 91,
reflects the department's new attitude on law enforcement.
Public Safety Sgt. Larry Langley said the change may be a result of reorganization in the Public Safety
administration, new officers with better definition of duties and more encouragement.
"There was a dramatic increase in arrests because officers were taking more initiative," Langley said.
Questioning authority
Even though Public Safety officers undergo police training and regularly keep up their certification, just
as do Iowa City and Coralville police officers, an officer wearing the light blue uniform is not necessarily
taken as seriously, said Chuck Green, the director of Public Safety.
"It happens all the time that people question our authority," he said. "There's confusion in the name, we're
Public Safety officers, but essentially, we're full police officers."
The Public Safety has 30 full-time officers with arrest power, the same as municipal police officers, he
said, and they carry out such duties as criminal investigations, domestic calls and traffic stops. The Iowa
City Police Department has approximately 75 officers.
Some students say that Public Safety officers are not taken seriously, believing that people don't know the
jurisdictions and responsibilities of Public Safety.
"It's my belief that it is our responsibility to help people to understand," Langley said. "We serve the UI
community and the Iowa City area because we're fully sworn police officers, we have the same training."
Even after being told that they have the same authority as police officers, some students still laugh at the
I of 3
10. 7'999_IR AM
Ilie Daily Iowan Fntli 128.255 60 56 cgs -bin I,i,elQuc.acgiSrec 12725'1 lomcl'age
idea of Public Safety officers enforcing the law.
"They don't even have a gun; I think it's funny," said UI freshman Rick Hogan. "They questioned me at
my door once, and I told them to go away."
Tools of the trade
Public Safety is the only campus police agency in the Big Ten whose officers do not carry sidearms,
Green said. The Board of Regents of the state of Iowa may be reluctant to allow them to carry firearms
because it does not want to add more guns to college campuses.
"I'm not certain why," Green said. "I think any law -enforcement official should include the tools to do law
enforcement. Unfortunately, in this day and age, arms are tools."
Iowa City Police Chief R.J. Winkelhake said parts of his department's job, as well as Public Safety's,
would be made easier if Public Safety carried sidearms. Currently, Iowa City police are needed to assist
Public Safety in the event of an armed confrontation.
"More than 200 years of history say it's not a good idea," he said, referring to Public Safety's lack of
sidearms. "I don't believe it's reasonable."
Students at the University of Michigan generally respect public safety officers, said Michigan senior Anish
Wadhwa.
"You think more highly of them if the situation called for a sidearm; they'd be able to do something
instead ofjust stand there with a nightstick," he said.
Nine years ago, the Michigan Department of Public Safety added firearms to its officers' equipment.
"If you're going to have police officers, you equip and train them as officers," said Bill Bess, director of
Michigan Public Safety. "That includes weapons."
Green said he is pleased with the UI administrators for giving him the opportunities to speak to them
regarding the addition of firearms. But it is ultimately the decision of the regents whether officers carry
sidearms, he said.
The regents made the decision a long time ago, said Regent Clarkson Kelly, though he didn't know the
reasons behind it.
"I don't have a problem with firearms," he said. "If they have the same training, I don't see why they
shouldn't have them."
Although Public Safety officers do not carry guns, they are armed with defensive weapons, such as a PR
24 nightstick and OC spray (pepper spray), they wear body armor as well.
The Department of Public Safety at Iowa State University is not permitted to carry firearms, either Its
officers carry similar defensive weapons
"Students view you more as a security guard," said ISU Lt. Steve Hasstedt. "People are surprised when
they get a citation or are arrested."
107 999.18 AM