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Without body cameras, Iowa State Patrol is an outlier among Iowa law enforcement

Iowa State Patrol Trooper Bob Conrad issues a warning for speeding April 21,2014, to a motorist on Highway 30 west of Cedar Rapids. Iowa troopers stop about 150,000 motorists a year. (The Cedar Rapids Gazette)

Iowa State Patrol troopers, who stop more than 150,000 motorists a year, provide security at the state Capitol and staff high-profile events including RAGBRAI, don’t wear body cameras, according to grantee Erin Jordan’s new report in the Bellevue Herald-Leader.

About 90 percent of more than 200 Iowa law enforcement agencies that responded to a survey last fall about body camera use said their agencies had the cameras, making the Iowa State Patrol Troopers an outlier. 

The survey was part of the “In Focus” series by the Iowa Newspaper Association and more than 30 Iowa newspapers, including The Gazette, that examines the use of police body cameras and access to police video in Iowa. This is the third article in that series.