Police body cameras in Iowa
A look at local law enforcement policies
-Photo by Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette <BR> A Panasonic body cam is shown on the uniform of a University Heights police officer.
- Photo by Brian Ray/the Gazette-KCRG <BR> University of Iowa Police Officer Alton Poole wears his VIEVU LE2 Body Worn Camera as he patrols the Finkbine Golf Course tailgating lot before Iowa’s game against Northern Iowa Saturday, Sept. 12, 2012, in Iowa City.
-Photo by Jim Slosiarek/The Gazette <BR> A Panasonic body cam is shown on the uniform of a University Heights police officer.
- Photo by Brian Ray/the Gazette-KCRG <BR> University of Iowa Police Officer Alton Poole wears his VIEVU LE2 Body Worn Camera as he patrols the Finkbine Golf Course tailgating lot before Iowa’s game against Northern Iowa Saturday, Sept. 12, 2012, in Iowa City.
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Though all four of the law enforcement agencies polled had policies on dash cam and bodycam usage, policies varied even within Webster County.
Though all agencies surveyed -- Fort Dodge Police Department, Webster County Sheriff's Office, Dayton Police Department and Gowrie Police Department -- use body cameras and dash cams, only the first two address the videos produced by the equipment as public or open records. Though it's a small sample size, that's about on par with the average rate at which other agencies in the state recognize videos as public or open records.
Those two departments have released body and dash camera videos to The Messenger in the past upon inquiries into officer-involved shootings.
All policies had instructions on when to turn cameras on or off, and how long videos should be saved.
In collaboration with the Iowa Newspaper Association, The Messenger requested the following from each department:
• Policies and rules on camera usage.
• All video recordings linked to the very first incident of 2020-- incidents of any nature that were the first -- recorded by their department.
• Incident reports or citations linked with that incident.
Gowrie Police Department was the only one that refused to provide video recordings or incident reports linked to the first incident of 2020.
"We will not be providing that information because it is considered confidential pursuant to Iowa Code Sections 22.7(5) and 622.11 of the Iowa Code," said Chief Patrick Monaghan, citing open records laws. "In addition, the incident involved a domestic disturbance which implicates privacy interests of the involved parties."
Monaghan said that even if a related incident report or citation had been recorded, the Gowrie Police Department would not have shared it.
"Requests will be evaluated on a case-by-case basis," he told The Messenger, noting that his particular refusal for recordings was based on "the specific nature" of them.
Citations and criminal complaints related to domestic abuse are typically available to The Messenger through Iowa court records when individuals are charged with crimes like domestic abuse assault. Sometimes the complaints will redact the names of victims.
Some policies, like the one provided by the Dayton Police Department, made police chiefs realize that their policies were outdated. The one provided by Chief Nicholas Dunbar still referenced VHS tapes, which the department has not used in quite some time.