Iowans split on law enforcement reforms proposed by Clinton

Iowa could see far-reaching changes in the way it deals with low-level offenders and polices minority communities under a proposal Hillary Clinton released Wednesday to overhaul America's criminal justice system.

Clinton's speech in the wake of rioting in Baltimore was the first time she has outlined a policy on a major issue since announcing her plans to run for president. She is among several candidates who have offered ideas to address the growing tension between communities and law enforcement officers in many U.S. cities and the high incarceration rate for African-American men.

Her ideas mirror some of the proposals of GOP presidential candidates and aspirants, including Rand Paul, a U.S. senator from Kentucky, who has proposed ending mandatory minimum sentences he has described as "deeply flawed."

Clinton's proposal calls for equipping all U.S. law enforcement officers with body cameras; reducing the number of people who are jailed for minor drug crimes; and finding ways to keep low-level offenders who have violated their parole from returning to jail. She also called for an increase in community policing.

Her ideas drew an array of reaction from Iowans, some of whom applauded the direction, while others warned that it might go too far.

"I would hope we don't have a knee-jerk reaction" to what is happening across the country, said Polk County Sheriff Bill McCarthy, a Democrat. "I would also hope we don't dismember the controls we have in place right now."

Angela Campbell, who has been a defense attorney for the past 12 years, called Clinton's proposals "refreshing," particularly pertaining to America's sky-high incarceration rates.

"We have way too many people in jail," she said.

While others like Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad applaud Clinton and other politicians' attention to problems with the country's criminal justice system they also want underlying issues addresses as well. "What we've seen in Ferguson and Baltimore is not just issues with law enforcement – the riots happened because people were not being represented. We are not addressing the issues in the urban core and we need to do that."

BASU: Seeking reasons behind the riots in Baltimore

Clinton's proposals are in stark contrast with the actions of her husband, former President Bill Clinton who in 1994 signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act. That legislation provided money to hire more local law enforcement officers, build prisons and implement tougher sentences.

"We have allowed our criminal justice system to get out of balance," Hillary Clinton said during her speech at Columbia University. "And these recent tragedies should galvanize us to come together as a nation to find our balance again."

Other GOP presidential hopefuls have proposed similar ideas.

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie last year signed legislation that allows low-level offenders to be released while awaiting jail.

And when Mike Huckabee was governor of Arkansas, he supported a drug court program for nonviolent offenders. He also has advocated for similar programs nationwide.

Waves of violence

In recent months, violence has broken out in several cities across the United States, after black men have been killed or severely injured by law enforcement officers.

The latest incident occurred this month in Baltimore after Freddie Gray, a 25-year-old black man, was handcuffed and put in a police van. Sometime between the arrest and his arrival at the jail, Gray's spinal cord was largely severed. He died a few days after his arrest.

On Monday, the day of his funeral, riots broke out in the city.

The Baltimore incident and others like it across the country have prompted increased scrutiny of the disproportionate incarceration rate among black men and the country's sentencing laws.

MORE: Thousands march in Baltimore, NYC over death of Freddie Gray

Some law enforcement officers wondered what alternatives to incarceration Clinton would offer for those arrested on parole violations.

"The parole violators are folks who were convicted of a crime," McCarthy said. "... What are we going to do with them?

"Sometimes the only way to deal with that is to put them back in the cell for a short time."

According to the Iowa Department of Corrections, there were 51 jail admissions of misdemeanor parolees for technical violations in 2013 and 69 in 2014. In 2013, 35 percent of the violators were black; in 2014, 11 percent were black.

McCarthy also wasn't supportive of keeping people out of jail who are convicted of minor drug crimes.

"It's OK to put someone in jail for OWI or public intoxication, but not for some marijuana?" he asked. "Let's think carefully about what we're doing and how it can affect public safety."

Changing community policing

Clinton's call for more interaction between law enforcement and the communities they serve is not a new idea in several Iowa towns and cities.

Des Moines, for several years, has practiced a form of community policing applauded by some residents. Officers are assigned a specific neighborhood, attend neighborhood meetings and get to know residents.

"This has been very successful in" the King-Irving neighborhood, said Joann Muldoon, who is active in the neighborhood association. She said plans for an annual neighborhood celebration include one-on-one interactions between police and residents.

"We're going to give residents a card and ice-breaker questions, and they're going to have to go up to the officers and introduce themselves and ask them some of the questions," she said.

RELATED: D.M. forum focuses on the future of policing

In Waterloo, which has endured a spurt of violence in recent weeks, city leaders are considering having officers working out of neighborhoods. The program would be modeled after one in Racine, Wis., in which houses were donated to the department and police set up their offices in the structures.

"The mission of those officers was to become an expert on those neighborhoods," Waterloo Police Chief Dan Trelka said. "It's a simple concept and something we're exploring using here."

Abdul-Samad, the Democrat lawmaker, supports community policing efforts including providing ways for officers to live in the communities they work in. "It shouldn't be mandatory but should be voluntary," he said. Officers "would get a tax break on housing and their pay should be different, too. Doing something like that would make a real difference in a community."

In the 1990s and early 2000s, many U.S. police departments had the manpower to put police officers in neighborhoods, said Ankeny Police Chief Gary Mikulec.

But during the economic downturn, police staffs were pared, he said. "As a result, departments no longer have the resources available to create community policing teams."

Mandatory body cameras

Clinton's proposal to equip all law enforcement officers with body cameras is also not new. Legislation was introduced this past year in at least 30 states, including Iowa, to study the use of body cameras or require officers to use the equipment.

The two bills introduced in Iowa did not get out of committee, mostly because of concerns about the cost of the cameras and storing video, as well as the specifics about policies on how or when recordings are required, how long they would be stored and who can view them.

Rep. Bruce Hunter, a Democrat from Des Moines, said he is hopeful the issue can move forward in next year's Legislature.

RELATED: Des Moines patrol takes body cameras to the streets

"The cameras serve to protect both the police officer and the suspect in the crime," Hunter said. "They give another aspect of what happened."

Some law enforcement agencies such as Waterloo have ordered body cameras and can't get them because of the huge demand. Trelka said that once the department gets its order, the cameras will be used on a trial basis.

Some Iowans applaud how candidates are offering ways to address issues related to the country's criminal justice system.

"We need to look at issues like this," said Jerry Tormey, president of Greater Des Moines Friends of Human Rights. "We need to look at what is causing the chaos in the country and how we're addressing all of the issues."

The following is a collection of essays by politicians and others on the U.S. criminal justice system published by the Brennan Center for Justice at New York University's School of Law. More information about the center can be found at www.brennancenter.org.