Iowa City considers and swiftly rejects abolishing its police department thegazette.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thegazette.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
05/12/21
During a work session, the Iowa City City Council Tuesday discussed restructuring of the city’s Police Department.
The Council, as a majority, favors the restructuring of the police and do not support abolishing the department, a topic brought up by councilor Laura Bergus in an opinion piece. The column says abolishment should be part of the conversation councilors are having.
The Gazette reports that during Tuesday’s meeting, Bergus pointed out that there was a commitment made last year to restructure the Police Department, but a lot of what she’s seen since then are plans that were already underway. She challenged the Council to consider what they were committing to when they agreed to consider the demands of protesters, and determine if they’re achieving those commitments.
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When one Iowa City city council member raised the possibility of abolishing the police department during a meeting Tuesday, a majority of her colleagues spoke against it.
A majority of the Iowa City City Council made clear Tuesday that they’re opposed to the possibility of abolishing the police department. The discussion came during a meeting focused on reviewing recommendations for how the city could restructure its police department, and was prompted after one city council member published a newspaper opinion piece calling for the possibility of abolition to be “on the table.”
At a council work session Tuesday, a majority of council members made clear that while they’re still in the process of what they call “restructuring” the city’s police department, they have no plans of abolishing it. Mayor Bruce Teague said even the word abolish is politically “dangerous.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission relaunched after mass resignations press-citizen.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from press-citizen.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Megan Alter said she is taking another shot at an at-large seat on the Iowa City Council. Honestly, I m running because of COVID, Alter said.
The pandemic, she said, elevated the challenges of childcare and food security that residents face every day. We can’t go back to normal not in a malevolent way, but there were too many people left behind, Alter said. We have to make a better normal.
Alter moved to Iowa City in 1995 to finish her Ph.D. in 19th century British literature. After finishing the program in 2004, she was a visiting professor in the English Department and the Sexuality Studies program. In 2009, she got a job at ACT, where she works as a senior manager in Content Solutions and Services.