Today’s Topic: Policing & Mass Incarceration, Part II
Des Moines has significantly more traffic stops for Black people who represent 11 percent of the population than White people who represent 75% of the population. Because Iowa has no ban on racial profiling or pretextual stops, racial bias in policing is a key factor in higher rates of traffic stops, citations, and arrests among people of color.
Option #1: Read & Reflect: Des Moines population is 75% white, 11% black, and 14% other. But in Des Moines, Blacks are 2.2 times more likely to be issued a citation for speeding. Once ticketed, Blacks are 4.5 times more likely to be arrested. Once ticketed for speeding, Black people are 9.5 times more likely to be arrested for interference with official acts. For marijuana arrests from 2014 - 2019, Blacks were arrested at a disproportionate rate. Although they represent 11% of the population, over the years, they makeup, on average over 30% of the marijuana arrests. This is true even when marijuana arrests dropped dramatically as they did in 2018 and 2019. Source: Just Voices
What is your reaction to what you just read?
Option #2: Read & Reflect: This past summer, State of Iowa lawmakers fast-tracked a package of police reforms. Both the Iowa House and Senate unanimously approved the bills and sent them to Governor Reynolds who signed it. Among provisions in the bill: officers cannot use choke holds, with exceptions if a person cannot be captured any other way and the person has threatened or used deadly force.
Also, an officer cannot be hired if he or she has been fired or quit another department while being investigated for serious misconduct, including use of excessive force, or convicted of a felony. The Iowa Attorney General’s Office may prosecute an officer if the officer’s actions result in the death of another.
Do you agree with the reforms that passed? Why or why not?
Are there any reforms you would suggest as well?
Families: Do this imagining as a family: Close your eyes and envision your ideal community: What does it look like? What do you see? What can you touch? How do you feel? In your vision for an ideal community, did you see prisons? People getting arrested and incarcerated? If not, how can we get our society to the vision that you had?
Additional Resources:
From Slave Patrols to Today: What the History of Policing Teaches Us About Today by NBCLX
I’m a Cop. Ask Me Anything by Jubilee A black cop answers questions from strangers on a range of topics and gives a good perspective of policing and his life. (warning: explicit language)