Des Moines Register: Des Moines’ marijuana enforcement proposal needs more input, officials say

This doesn’t look too good for Des Moines police public relations here. The Des Moines City manager, however, as well as lawyer Gary Dickey, are on point.

From this Des Moines Register article today:

The resolution forming the task force promised a Des Moines Police Department official would be made available for consultation as needed. Chief Dana Wingert appointed Maj. Stephen Waymire, the commander of the investigations division, to that post.

But Dickey said the police department has not been involved outside of providing arrest data.

More:Iowa ranks fifth-worst in racial disparities for marijuana arrests, ACLU reports

“I sent a letter to (Wingert) requesting that they provide us with any recommendations on the issue, and then — when we made an inventory of all the public recommendations we received — I sent another letter to the chief asking for either written or public comment about those public recommendations. I didn’t receive any response to either,” Dickey told the council.

Des Moines Police Sgt. Paul Parizek told the Des Moines Register on Monday that Waymire has provided subject matter expertise as requested.He also said it is uncommon for marijuana to be the sole reason for an arrest. In 2019, 261 arrests included a possession of marijuana charge, and it was the sole charge in 55 (or 21%) of those arrests, he said.

In a statement to the Register, Wingert signaled that DMPD will not be compelled to follow city policies that conflict with state law. He said the issue “should be left to state lawmakers” and that police feedback outside of technical matters would have been a “conflict of interest.” 

“From my standpoint, this is an issue that should be left to state lawmakers,” the police chief said. “The professional obligation to enforce state law is something that must be consistently applied across jurisdictional lines. To actively participate on this task force would be a professional conflict of interest. As stated by the City Council resolution, we participated as a consultant on technical matters.

“Our role is not to establish law. The practice of police officers arbitrarily assigning a level of ‘seriousness’ or ‘priority,’ beyond what is currently established by Iowa Code, is problematic and places the men and women who serve in a very difficult position,” Wingert’s statement continued. “If the recommendations brought forth are truly the will of the people, then the appropriate venue for consideration would be the upcoming legislative session. Short of this, we remain committed to enforcing the laws in a fair and impartial manner without undermining the democratic system that sets the standards and expectations, at the state level, as it pertains to the crime of drug possession.”

Read the full article from the Des Moines register here: https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/2020/11/09/des-moines-effort-decriminalize-marijuana-hamstrung-iowa-law-des-moines-police-department/6191753002/

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