Visitors to City Park on Saturday morning may have encountered an unpleasant surprise on the pavement: white supremacist messages written with black spray paint in three different areas. “We’ve had spray-painting before, but never messages like this,” Collin Lenton of the Iowa City Parks and Recreation Department said as he was scrubbing graffiti off one […]
Iowa City Police Department
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Police interactions with youth, the homeless discussed at final Iowa City Council listening posts
Last week, the Iowa City Council concluded its series of listening posts to gather feedback from residents on issues related to community policing, including police interactions with young people and people experiencing homelessness. During Monday’s listening post at Chauncey Swan Park, representatives from Shelter House, CommUnity Crisis Services, United Action for Youth and the Jail […]
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City Council unanimously approves Dustin Liston as Iowa City’s new police chief
The Iowa City Council voted unanimously on Tuesday night to approve the appointment of Dustin Liston as chief of the Iowa City Police Department. Liston, an Iowa native who has served as police officer in El Paso, Texas, for 22 years, was the choice of City Manager Geoff Fruin after a search process that began […]
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‘We need to do better’: Iowa City Council holds listening post to discuss mental health and police reform
The Iowa City Council held the first of six scheduled listening posts to get public input regarding community policing reforms at Mercer Park on Wednesday evening. Approximately 50 community members attended the event, which focused on how situations involving mental health, crisis intervention and addiction should be handled. As part of the resolution passed on […]
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Iowa City Council is holding a listening session on community policing at Mercer Park
The Iowa City Council will hold the first of six listening post events on police reform at Mercer Park on Wednesday evening. Each of the six planned events will focus on an issue important to improving community policing in Iowa City. Wednesday’s listening post will focus on how to better handle situations involving mental health, […]
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Iowa City releases body-camera footage of law enforcement officers tear-gassing protesters on June 3
Three months after law enforcement officers used tear gas, pepper spray, flash-bang grenades and other munitions on protesters marching up Dubuque Street on June 3, Iowa City released two police body-camera videos from that night. The Iowa City Council had directed City Manager Geoff Fruin to release the footage at its Tuesday night meeting. During […]
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Iowa Freedom Riders lead a weekend of protests ahead of the Iowa City Council’s next meeting
The Iowa Freedom Riders led three nights of protest in Iowa City starting on Friday to push for the Iowa City Council to take faster action on the group’s demands, ahead of the city council’s next meeting on Tuesday. A fourth night of protest is scheduled for Monday. IFR’s demands for action to address issues […]
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Iowa City man arrested for driving a car into protesters on Friday night
Late Tuesday afternoon, the Iowa City Police Department announced it had arrested a 45-year-old Iowa City resident for driving his car through a crowd of protesters gathered in the intersection of Gilbert and Burlington streets Friday night. Multiple people who had turned out for the march led by the Iowa Freedom Riders were struck by […]
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Iowa Freedom Riders return to the streets of Iowa City demanding more action from the city council and justice for Makeda Scott
On Friday night, the Iowa Freedom Riders led marchers through the streets of Iowa City in their first protest since early July. IFR organizers — joined by five members of Des Moines Black Lives Matter, who had been in Cedar Rapids earlier to deliver donated items to help people affected by the derecho — led […]
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The Robert A. Lee Recreation Center is the cultural nexus of Iowa City, but not all are welcome equally
The Robert A. Lee Community Recreation Center, an unimpressive building that looms small in the shadow of The Chauncey, is nevertheless a nexus for the true cultural geography of Iowa City. A relic of mid-century municipal architecture — something of a rarity in Iowa City — it took nearly a decade to realize after a […]
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Finalists announced in search for new Iowa City Chief of Police
Iowa City’s search for a new police chief entered its final phase on Thursday, as City Manager Geoff Fruin announced a nationwide search had produced three candidates for the job: Commander Jason Lando of the Pittsburgh Bureau of Police, Lt. Dustin Liston of the El Paso Police Department and Chief Jeremy Logan of the Oelwein […]
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Iowa City confirms police did use tear gas on protest marchers on June 3
Iowa City Police Department officers did use tear gas on protesters gathered on Dubuque Street on June 3, an assistant city attorney confirmed on Monday in reply to a citizen’s open records request. Little Village was provided with a copy of the email from Assistant City Attorney Susan Dulek, sent at 4:04 p.m. on Monday. […]
