{"id":1862,"date":"2020-07-08T18:27:52","date_gmt":"2020-07-08T23:27:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1862"},"modified":"2020-07-08T18:29:16","modified_gmt":"2020-07-08T23:29:16","slug":"symbolic-law","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/?p=1862","title":{"rendered":"Symbolic Law"},"content":{"rendered":"

On Monday, June 29, Governor Kim Reynold (R-Iowa) signed into law Senate File 526<\/a>, a bill \u201ccreating a blue alert program within the department of public safety for the apprehension of a person suspected of killing or seriously injuring a peace officer in the line of duty or due to safety concerns for a peace officer missing while on duty.\u201d<\/p>\n

The bill is not necessary; it\u2019s symbolic.\u00a0 What the bill allows can be done already without statutory approval.\u00a0 No entity opposed the bill.\u00a0 Why would they?\u00a0 The bill is sort of a non-starter.\u00a0 However, it is the epitome of what law enforcement lobbyists can accomplish in the Iowa Legislature, and probably throughout the nation.<\/p>\n

The power of law enforcement at the Iowa Capitol can be overwhelming.\u00a0 On any given day from Monday through Thursday, you can\u2019t help but notice a sheriff, a deputy sheriff, or municipal police officer in uniform wearing a weapon on the side.\u00a0 Often, the officer is accompanied by their respective lobbyist.\u00a0 My question has always been: If they\u2019re acting on behalf of the nonprofit law enforcement organization of which they are a member, why are they in uniform?\u00a0 Why are they being paid?\u00a0 Stew Barnes, Senior Des Moines Police Officer and representative of the Des Moines Police Bargaining Unit usually wore civilian clothes when attending meetings at the Capitol.\u00a0 On the other hand, if they are on duty, is the employing agency allowing them to lobby on behalf of the nonprofit organization?\u00a0 We need some ethics here.<\/p>\n

Many of the laws passed pertaining to cops are for the special benefit of those occupations. Law enforcement has one of the best retirement plans in the state.\u00a0 Many are with Iowa Public Employees Retirement System [IPERS], but some have a much better plan.\u00a0 The Municipal Fired & Police Retirement System of Iowa<\/a> is \u201c66% of high three-year salary average (not including overtime). Members are eligible at age 55 with 22 years of service. Additional 2% per year beyond 22 years of service, not to exceed 30 years of service, for a maximum benefit of 82% of a member’s high three-year average salary.\u201d<\/p>\n

Government employees, local, state, or federal, have added protection in the form of the federal Bill of Rights.\u00a0 A government employee is provided due process of law, the right to confront witnesses, and all the other protections usually offered to criminal defendants.\u00a0 What you may not know, is that in Iowa, anyone with a law enforcement certification is provided with an additional set of protections.\u00a0 Robert Rehkemper<\/a> of the Law Firm Gourley, Rehkemper, and Lindholm<\/a>, wrote an article four years ago on the matter of the \u201cOfficer\u2019s Bill of Rights\u201d, which is embedded in section 80F.1<\/a> of the Iowa Code.\u00a0 I beg you to read Law Enforcement Bill of Rights \u2013 Special Privileges or Necessary Protection<\/a> on the GRL website <www.grllaw.com><\/p>\n

The second subsection of 80F [80F.2<\/a>] provides that a peace officer shall be reimbursed the costs of a defense for a charge which \u201cwas without probable cause . . . was filed for malicious purposes, [or] was unwarranted in consideration of all of the circumstances and matters of law attending the alleged offense.\u201d\u00a0 You are not provided with that equal<\/em> protection.\u00a0 See State v. Mathes<\/a>, and State v. Mathes<\/a> (Criminal case was dismissed.\u00a0 However, Mathes was required to \u201creimburse the state for her court appointed fees.\u201d)<\/p>\n

When it comes to criminal law, cop lobbyists have been known to say that police don\u2019t like to arrest someone for a simple misdemeanor because it\u2019s not worth their time.\u00a0 And a police chief once remarked that anything less than a felony is not worth the time or money.\u00a0 If someone fights it, the officer has to go to court.\u00a0 If that\u2019s the case, how come young black men are being pulled off to the side of the road because a license plate light is not shining brightly?<\/p>\n

For years, there has been an effort to pass a law that would require police to record custodial interviews.\u00a0 It has never passed because police don\u2019t want it passed.\u00a0 One of the excuses includes the costs.\u00a0 However, most law enforcement officials now wear cameras.\u00a0 There are numerous grants out there, most of them from gambling receipts.\u00a0 Gambling receipts are doled out to cities and counties in which there is no casino.\u00a0 In Greene county, the fire department in Churdan received $3175 in 2012 for a thermal imaging camera.\u00a0 Today, Jefferson, in Greene County, has a casino.\u00a0 Any law enforcement facility can obtain equipment to record custodial interviews if it was mandated by law.\u00a0 But recorded custodial interviews are still not the law.<\/p>\n

Yes, police have a hazardous job, but so do packinghouse workers.\u00a0 More packinghouse workers in Iowa have died this year because of their occupation than have police.\u00a0 \u00a0Don\u2019t feel too sorry for the police.\u00a0 Their collective interests are overly represented at the Iowa Capitol.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On Monday, June 29, Governor Kim Reynold (R-Iowa) signed into law Senate File 526, a bill \u201ccreating a blue alert program within the department of public safety for the apprehension of a person suspected of killing or seriously injuring a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[42],"tags":[759,761,762,763,764,760],"class_list":["post-1862","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-criminal-justice","tag-gov-kim-reynolds","tag-ipers","tag-mfprsi","tag-robert-rehkemper","tag-state-v-mathes","tag-stew-barnes"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1862"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1865,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1862\/revisions\/1865"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1862"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1862"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/iowappa.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1862"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}