Republicans in the Iowa Legislature are advancing a bill that would eliminate civilian police review boards, and change civil service rules to make it harder for police chiefs to fire, suspend or demote officers they have determined to be “unsuitable or unfit” for their positions.
“Today we send a clear message to the brave men and women who put on their uniform every day, who stand on that thin, blue line,” Sen. Scott Webster, a Republican from Bettendorf, said during Monday’s floor debate on the bill in the Iowa Senate. “We have their back. We stand with them. We respect them.”
