Police and Law Enforcement

An Iowa Lakes Community College baseball player was killed and 32 other people were injured when the team’s bus overturned Wednesday in northwest Iowa. College leaders pledge to support students through this time.

The City of Coralville is considering revisiting its contract with Flock Safety, a company that operates controversial Automated License Plate Readers in the area. It comes after the city received a letter from the Iowa Attorney General’s Office that states part of its policy prohibiting the cameras from being used for immigration enforcement does not comply with state law.

Three bills that make up Iowa House Republicans’ “tough on crime” package cleared their first legislative hurdle in the Iowa House this week.

Iowans filled a room at the Capitol Thursday morning to oppose a bill that would end a requirement for police to have yearly de-escalation and bias prevention training and remove references to affirmative action in state law.

Surveillance cameras are spreading across Iowa and artificial intelligence makes them far more powerful. IPR's James Kelley shares his investigation into the controversial Flock cameras installed in dozens of Iowa communities. Later in the hour, legal scholar Megan Graham shares what rights citizens have in the AI area. (This episode was produced in October 2025.)

A Native American woman from Arizona was nearly deported by federal immigration officials after a clerical error at the Polk County Jail. The woman's family had to scramble to prove she was Indigenous and shouldn't be turned over to ICE.

Johnson County is plowing ahead with plans for a 120-bed law enforcement facility. Officials said it will be a busy year between now and next November, when they hope to present a $99 million bond to voters. The next step in the process is to nail down a location.

IPR's James Kelley shares his investigation into Flock surveillance cameras. Then, legal scholar Megan Graham on the legal limits of surveillance.

The Sac County Board of Supervisors picked Katie Stange to be the new sheriff last month. She's the first woman appointed to that role in more than a century.

Johnson County officials are pulling their support for a new joint law enforcement facility that would house a new county jail, the sheriff’s office and the Iowa City Police Department. After both the county and the city agreed to continue discussions on the shared facility, Johnson County Sheriff Brad Kunkel said he no longer sees a path forward.