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Iowa students pledge to never text and drive
Photo illustration shot in Cedar Rapids on Wednesday, May 30, 2012. (Cliff Jette/The Gazette-KCRG) DES MOINES – Gov. Terry Branstad joined nearly a dozen students Thursday in signing a pledge to never...
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Authorities warn rural Iowans to watch for illegal pot-growing operations
A Buchanan County Sheriff's deputy checks checks evidence tags on some of the 75 marijuana plants pulled up by authorities in September 1996 in two Buchanan County plots. (Gazette file photo)It’s...
View ArticleIowa State Patrol getting new leadership
The new commissioner of the state Department of Public Safety Thursday announced personnel changes that included a change of leadership for the Iowa State Patrol.Brian London, Gov. Terry Branstad’s...
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JoCo Justice Center: Back to the drawing board
Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek (left) reacts as he watches the results on the vote for the $46.8 million bond for the proposed new Johnson County Justice Center come in with and former Iowa...
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Reducing jail numbers is an uphill battle
Capt. Dave Wagner, Jail Administrator, shows cells in the maximum-security C Block on a tour of the Johnson County Jail on Thursday, Aug. 9, 2012, in Iowa City. (Liz Martin/The Gazette-KCRG) What’s...
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A tragic end to a heartbreaking search
Elizabeth Collins (left) and Lyric Cook-Morrissey. It was what we feared most in the days, weeks and — ultimately — months after two girls went missing from Meyers Lake in Evansdale.In a heartbreaking...
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Program pushes facial recognition for Iowa sex offenders
Joseph Rosenkrantz, CEO of Face First, a facial recognition technology company, at the company's Camarillo, California, headquarters on November 2, 2012. On screen in background is a demonstration of...
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Traffic cameras increase safety
By Bob Elliott—- We’re now more than a decade into the 21st century, and well aware of escalating technological advances.So why are some people so opposed to involving technology in efforts to...
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Get the facts before next justice center vote
Johnson County Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek (left) reacts as he watches the results on the vote for the $46.8 million bond for the proposed new Johnson County Justice Center come in with and former Iowa...
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DOT licensing policy change challenged
Iowa driver license. (Gazette file photo)DES MOINES – Critics asked Iowa legislators Wednesday to overturn a decision by state Department of Transportation officials to cease issuing driver’s licenses...
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Public safety must be budget priority
By Darin Snedden—- In 1935, 50 patrol officers of the newly formed Iowa Highway Safety Patrol started their first day of service to Iowans. Since then, more than 1,584 Iowa State Troopers have driven...
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Keeping school kids safe
School districts looking into installing guards and security equipment in schools may have nothing but good intentions. But they should take a minute to think before spending precious school funding...
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Sheriffs: Mentally ill Iowans end up in jail
Black Hawk County Sheriff Tony Thompson, seen in his office at the Black Hawk County Jail in Waterloo in 2011, told members of the Iowa Senate Judiciary Committee on Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013, that county...
View ArticleTransportation may drive legislative debate
DES MOINES – Lawmakers are hitting several transportation hot buttons this session with bills seeking to require young moped riders to wear helmets, allow law officers to issue distracted driving...
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Helmet requirement clears Senate subcommittee
A moped sits at a bike rack Friday, June 17, 2011 along Iowa Avenue in downtown Iowa City. (Brian Ray/ SourceMedia Group News)DES MOINES – “Ecstatic,” that’s how Leah Murray and Olivia Lofgren...
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Classes continue after Marion High School fire
Marion High School on Tuesday, Jan, 23, 2007, in Marion. (Gazette file photo)Despite a fire in the building less than 24 hours before, it was business as usual on Monday at Marion High School.Shortly...
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Cedar Rapids police chief plans gun buyback in spring
Tables covered with guns area seen Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2013, in Trenton, N.J., during a display of 2,600 guns, including 700 that were illegal, that were turned in last Friday and Saturday during a gun...
View ArticleNation’s mass shootings prompt safety proposal in Iowa Senate
A group of Democratic senators have proposed a multi-pronged bill aimed at addressing safety concerns raised by recent mass shootings at an elementary school in Newtown, Conn., and a theater in Aurora,...
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When stopping crime begins with mental health
Correctional officer Tom Bradfield monitors inmates in the mental health unit at the Iowa Medical and Classification Center at Oakdale on Tuesday, Jan. 29, 2012, in Coralville. (Liz Martin/The...
View ArticleNEW PODCAST: Insights on Iowa — Mental health and prison
In last Sunday’s column, I talked about the frustrating lack of resources for The ANCHOR Center, a groundbreaking residential facility that would directly address the problem of inmates with mental...
View ArticleNEW PODCAST: ‘Insights on Iowa’ Boston Marathon bombing discussion
As officials look for answers to the Boston Marathon bombing, in this week’s edition of ‘Insights on Iowa’, Jennifer Hemmingsen talks with social worker Cynthia Vaske and journalism professor Frank...
View ArticleIowa Senate passes $560 million justice system budget
Majority Democrats in the Iowa Senate approved a $560 million budget that would fund more prison guards and state troopers and open new prison and residential corrections facilities.Senate File 447,...
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Don’t rush to judgment in Boston’s wake
Law enforcement officers talk at the scene of a police manhunt in Watertown, Massachusetts April 19, 2013, following the shooting of a police officer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)....
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ATV bill on legislative road to nowhere
Law enforcement officers use an ATV to drive through a field in Hickory Hill Park Thursday, Aug. 21, 2008. (Brian Ray/The Gazette) DES MOINES – The Senate Ways and Means Committee likely will mark the...
View ArticleIowa House halts funding for passenger rail study
Hopes for passenger rail in Eastern Iowa were derailed, or at least sidetracked, when funding for a feasibility study was rejected by the Iowa House Tuesday.Arguing that passenger rail will never be...
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Right time to meet Johnson County’s needs
By Jim McCarragher—- Johnson County’s 112-year-old historic courthouse and 30-year-old jail are outdated, and represent a threat to public safety, security and access to justice.The $43.5 million...
View ArticleCleveland kidnap case points to a larger, hidden, problem
This week’s stunning escape of three women who were kidnapped and imprisoned for a decade in a tight-knit Cleveland neighborhood has many wondering what took so long.How was alleged kidnapper Ariel...
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Ceremony honors three fallen Iowa peace officers
Gov. Terry Branstad and other dignitaries prepare for the start of Friday's ceremonies at the relocated Peace Officer Memorial near the state Capitol Building honoring three fallen officers who died in...
View ArticleLawmakers reach funding agreement for Iowa prisons, victim assistance
House-Senate conference committee members Wednesday finalized a $547.3 million appropriation to fund state prisons, public safety and other justice system functions for the 2014 fiscal year that begins...
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Officials: flood patrols kept crime, fires manageable
After spiking in 2008, crimes associated with the flood zone – burglaries, thefts and arson – have returned to or sunk below pre-flood levels.Five years ago this month, the historic 2008 flood forced...
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Iowa City 21-only fight: It’s all about the money
Iowa City Police Officer Kevin Prestegard checks the identification of a man who was found with an alcoholic drink outside of the Saloon Thursday, Aug. 26, 2010 on the Pedestrian Mall in downtown Iowa...
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Column: Is it safe to vote at school?
Amanda Washburn votes as De'Shaun Sanders, 7, the son of a friend, watches at Taylor School on Tuesday evening, Nov. 6, 2012, in Cedar Rapids. (Liz Martin/The Gazette-KCRG) It’s the illogical question...
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One weekend, 105 sexually exploited children
Law enforcement officers make an arrest in this still image taken from video in New Jersey, provided by the FBI July 29, 2013. The federal agency arrested 150 people across the United States in 76...
View ArticleMore car thefts being reported in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City
The number of cars stolen in Cedar Rapids each year continues to rise.Cedar Rapids Police Sgt. Cristy Hamblin said 144 vehicles have been reported stolen so far this year. That’s up from 132 over the...
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Taylor neighborhood crowd shares crime-fighting solutions
Voters gather in the entry to Taylor School on Tuesday evening, Nov. 6, 2012, in Cedar Rapids. (Liz Martin/The Gazette)An estimated crowd of over 100 concerned residents attended Monday evening’s...
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Lawmakers consider expanded ATV use in Iowa
DES MOINES — Off-road motorsports enthusiasts Monday pressed for uniform rules that would allow them to operate all-terrain vehicles on secondary roads across Iowa while opponents raised concerns about...
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Snow removal is year-round job for Iowa DOT
Bob Younie doesn’t wait for the first snowflakes to fall before he starts thinking about snow removal.A snow plow scrapes along Seventh Avenue in Marion. (The Gazette)“The odd thing is, some of us at...
View Article2013 ends with lowest Iowa traffic death count in 70 years
Iowa is on track to post its fifth straight year of traffic fatalities below 400 and the lowest highway death toll since 1943.With less than two days left in the calendar year, the number of people...
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Branstad willing to consider drone restrictions in Iowa
An unarmed U.S. "Shadow" drone is pictured in flight in this undated photograph. (REUTERS/AAI Corporation/Handout)Gov. Terry Branstad said Friday he would be willing to consider legislation that...
View ArticleScores of bills fail to make first legislative “funnel” deadline
DES MOINES — A legislative vortex swept away hundreds of proposed bills Thursday as the split-control Legislature cut its 2014 workload to a shrinking list of priority items.Measures seeking to...
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