A widely circulated social media post that showed a uniformed law enforcement official with an unmarked vehicle pulling a car over in Coralville caught the attention of an elected official last month.
Coralville City Council member Jill Dodds was so alarmed by the implications that she decided to raise the issue at the council's meeting last week.
"I was very concerned about the safety issue, because I grew up in the age of no cell phones," she told the Press-Citizen. "I was always taught, and I also taught my daughter that, if you're concerned (about an unmarked vehicle pulling you over), you drive to a well-lit, populated location for safety."
Recognizing that the unmarked car in the video did not belong to Coralville police, Dodds reached out to Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel to get more information about unmarked vehicles, and a new state law that might pose a dilemma for drivers who are being pulled over by one.
The "Back the Blue" law, a wide-ranging list of enhancements for protest-related offenses and increases in police protections, also has an item related to unmarked vehicles. It adds a section to Iowa's law on eluding, making someone who doesn't stop for an unmarked vehicle at risk of being charged with that offense.
When the Iowa Senate voted on the bill this year, Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, said to "be charged with eluding for this is crazy." Kinney is a retired Johnson County sheriff deputy who said he drove an unmarked car for 13 years.
Another law enforcement official and state senator, Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said he rarely pulls people over while driving an unmarked vehicle.
Dodds, noting she is a "59-year-old white woman," said she would be terrified of being stopped by an unmarked vehicle.
More:Saying she's 'grateful to the heroes,' Gov. Kim Reynolds raises penalties for protest-related crimes, boosts police protections
She said she also talked to Coralville City Attorney Kevin Olson about the new law. Based on his reading, she said officers in unmarked vehicles could be in plainclothes as well.
"Then I thought, 'What if I was a Black 25-year-old male?' And things just kept getting worse in my mind, that this legislation was not a good thing," she said. "And I didn't know what to do with it. So that's why I thought, 'I'm going to bring it to the council.'"
ACLU of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer told the Press-Citizen that this addition to the eluding law is "terrible public policy and lawmakers should not have made this dangerous change to Iowa law."
"The advice parents frequently give to young people is not to pull over unless it's a uniformed officer in a police car (and of course to always pull over when it is)," he said. "Even though it is against the law to impersonate a police officer, how are people to know when it's a real police traffic stop, and when it's someone dangerous pretending to be one?"
Dodds continued to think about different scenarios, including how people are now more easily able to buy handguns and carry them in public without a permit, something recently made legal by a different new Iowa law.
She also thought about the safety of an officer in plainclothes, in an unmarked car, walking up to a vehicle and how that could lead to a potentially dangerous situation.
Dodds said by bringing it to the public's attention she wanted to see what local officials can do to start discussing how to keep the community safe.
"It's not very clear that all of these changes were made," she said. "And I don't think that those are good for the safety of, not only our citizens but the safety of our police officers."
Dodds said she has no problem with unmarked vehicles or officers in plainclothes in specific situations and understands the need for them.
"But for general traffic stops, I don't see that that is absolutely necessary when we have an entire department. They could have called in a regular police officer in uniform," she said.
Coralville City Council member Jill Dodds was so alarmed by the implications that she decided to raise the issue at the council's meeting last week.
"I was very concerned about the safety issue, because I grew up in the age of no cell phones," she told the Press-Citizen. "I was always taught, and I also taught my daughter that, if you're concerned (about an unmarked vehicle pulling you over), you drive to a well-lit, populated location for safety."
Recognizing that the unmarked car in the video did not belong to Coralville police, Dodds reached out to Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel to get more information about unmarked vehicles, and a new state law that might pose a dilemma for drivers who are being pulled over by one.
The "Back the Blue" law, a wide-ranging list of enhancements for protest-related offenses and increases in police protections, also has an item related to unmarked vehicles. It adds a section to Iowa's law on eluding, making someone who doesn't stop for an unmarked vehicle at risk of being charged with that offense.
When the Iowa Senate voted on the bill this year, Sen. Kevin Kinney, D-Oxford, said to "be charged with eluding for this is crazy." Kinney is a retired Johnson County sheriff deputy who said he drove an unmarked car for 13 years.
Another law enforcement official and state senator, Dan Dawson, R-Council Bluffs, said he rarely pulls people over while driving an unmarked vehicle.
Dodds, noting she is a "59-year-old white woman," said she would be terrified of being stopped by an unmarked vehicle.
More:Saying she's 'grateful to the heroes,' Gov. Kim Reynolds raises penalties for protest-related crimes, boosts police protections
She said she also talked to Coralville City Attorney Kevin Olson about the new law. Based on his reading, she said officers in unmarked vehicles could be in plainclothes as well.
"Then I thought, 'What if I was a Black 25-year-old male?' And things just kept getting worse in my mind, that this legislation was not a good thing," she said. "And I didn't know what to do with it. So that's why I thought, 'I'm going to bring it to the council.'"
ACLU of Iowa Executive Director Mark Stringer told the Press-Citizen that this addition to the eluding law is "terrible public policy and lawmakers should not have made this dangerous change to Iowa law."
"The advice parents frequently give to young people is not to pull over unless it's a uniformed officer in a police car (and of course to always pull over when it is)," he said. "Even though it is against the law to impersonate a police officer, how are people to know when it's a real police traffic stop, and when it's someone dangerous pretending to be one?"
Dodds continued to think about different scenarios, including how people are now more easily able to buy handguns and carry them in public without a permit, something recently made legal by a different new Iowa law.
She also thought about the safety of an officer in plainclothes, in an unmarked car, walking up to a vehicle and how that could lead to a potentially dangerous situation.
Dodds said by bringing it to the public's attention she wanted to see what local officials can do to start discussing how to keep the community safe.
"It's not very clear that all of these changes were made," she said. "And I don't think that those are good for the safety of, not only our citizens but the safety of our police officers."
Dodds said she has no problem with unmarked vehicles or officers in plainclothes in specific situations and understands the need for them.
"But for general traffic stops, I don't see that that is absolutely necessary when we have an entire department. They could have called in a regular police officer in uniform," she said.
How should a driver respond to unmarked police cars under the 'Back the Blue' law?
A new Iowa law puts drivers at risk for being charged with eluding if they don't stop for unmarked police vehicles. Some say that's dangerous.
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