Victory for Police Transparency! Iowa Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Just Voices

Victory for Police Transparency! Iowa Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Just Voices

By Harvey L. Harrison

During the 2020 summer protests we watched the Des Moines Police Department use violence against largely peaceful protesters. I requested copies of police Use of Force reports through the Freedom of Information Act. These are reports that are required, by law, to be prepared by any officer who engaged in a Use of Force! There should have been a lot of them.

On March 14, 2025, after 2 years of litigation, the Iowa Supreme Court ordered the Police to release the reports to me. This ruling from the Court is a major step toward police transparency and accountability!

What Constitutes Use of Force?

Use-of-Force runs quite a gamut of actions by police against people. It can be something as simple as: A push or shove, pepper-spraying, baton strikes, all the way to something lethal like a shooting or putting your knee on someone’s neck for 9 minutes and 46 seconds.

Here is the Rest of the Story

During the preparation of Volume one of The People’s History: A Study of The Summer Of 2020 Protests In Des Moines, Iowa, we were collecting the stories and video records from the people involved in the protests. We asked the police department to release copies of the 2020 Use Of Force Reports as a part of our research. It was one of the efforts by Just Voices to give witness to the unjustified military response by the Des Moines Police Department, and to demand accountability for the police officers who engaged in wrongful conduct.

The city refused.

Don’t Debate, Litigate

I was not surprised when my request was denied. I was surprised when the city claimed that these reports were a work product of the city attorney and exempt from disclosure. That was a ludicrous argument and was abandoned by the city during the ensuing litigation.

Because I was certain that my request was appropriate under the Iowa Freedom of Information Act, I hired an attorney and, on October 13, 2022, filed a lawsuit against the city demanding that the Use of Force Reports be given to me.

On February 15th, 2024, District Court Judge McAllister issued a 25-page opinion that required the city of Des Moines to provide me with copies of use-of-force reports from 2020—all 387 reports!

I was gratified and pleased by his ruling. However, rather than provide the reports, the city of Des Moines decided to appeal to the Iowa Supreme Court. Our highest state Court.

Iowa Supreme Court Rules in Favor of Transparency

On March 14th, 2025, in a precedent-setting decision that applies to the entire state of Iowa, the Iowa Supreme Court, UNANIMOUSLY, ruled in my favor in the case of Harvey L. Harrison (Just Voices founder) vs. the City of Des Moines, case No. 24–0373. Part of the Supreme Court’s opinion reads:

To preserve a zone of privacy for public employees, the Iowa Open Records Act (Act) exempts from disclosure “[p]ersonal information in confidential personnel records.” Iowa Code § 22.7(11)(a) (2022). This case requires us to decide whether use of force reports—routinely prepared by police officers whenever they use force—are covered by this exemption. We conclude that they are not. They are reports of facts, not evaluations of employees. Accordingly, we affirm the judgment of the district court requiring disclosure of the City of Des Moines Police Department’s use of force reports for 2020, subject to certain parameters noted herein.

The District Court and Iowa Supreme Court made the right decision.

• Access to U of F reports improves transparency and transparency promotes accountability. The police must be accountable to the people they are sworn to protect.
• U of F reports are in the officers’ own words, explaining what type of force was used and why; this allows for analysis on reasoning and greater understanding.
• Current legislation predicted to pass the Iowa Legislature calls for a ban on Citizen Review Boards statewide and any type of community oversight of police. Access to U of F reports allows activists, advocates, and any resident to provide that oversight needed. Police can’t police themselves.
• Knowing what types of force are most commonly used and following the numbers through the years can reveal trends, expose training needs, and/or a need for policy changes. The public can then advocate through City government for these improvements.

Bottom line, Des Moines Police needs to improve its transparency and accountability if it truly wants stronger community and police relationships. Plus, sharing as much data and reporting with the public as possible, leads to stronger public safety for everyone.

There Is Much Left to Do

The city has now delivered 385 use of force reports for the 2020 calendar year. Over the next many days we will be reviewing those reports to find out if the Des Moines Police Department complied with the law by filing timely reports when force was used against protesters that volatile summer of 2020.

We will report back as the research and analysis continues.