Just Voices Iowa

09/15/2026

A Commitment to Serve and Protect Should Also Mean a Commitment to Improvement.

Improvement starts with being willing to examine what happened, identify what went wrong and ask what could be done better.

After the 2020 protests in Des Moines, activists called for an after-action review of the Des Moines Police Department’s response, the kind of review used by the military, emergency management and other high-stakes organizations to understand what happened and improve future response.

That review never happened.

Essay 5 examines the use-of-force records, what they reveal, what may be missing and why questions about transparency and accountability remain. Take a look. Link in the comments.

08/04/2026

Militarized policing is not only about weapons, armored vehicles or riot gear. It is a mindset. One that can turn ordinary people into perceived threats.

Essay 4 in The People’s History, Profile of Des Moines police Violence in Aftermath of 2020 George Floyd Protests, identifies the three senior Des Moines police officers captured on camera approaching a lone pedestrian who appears to be breaking no law. Seconds later, he is assaulted.

No arrest. No report. Just a camera that kept recording. We have the footage.

What happens when officers begin treating the public like the enemy without accountability?

Read Essay 4 and watch the footage. Link in the comments.

07/22/2026

Raw body camera footage. First-person testimony. Lawsuits, settlements and unanswered questions.

The People’s History: A Study of the 2020 Protests in Des Moines documents what happened, what followed and why accountability still matters.

Watch the introduction. Video link in the comments.

07/16/2026

Some evidence was never meant to become history. It wasn't documented in reports. It wasn't preserved in use-of-force records. But one security camera kept recording.

Essay 3, The Silence After the Sirens: What a Security Camera Revealed at 3rd & Court in Vol 3 of The People's History, examines what unfolded at one downtown Des Moines intersection, and asks why some of the night's most consequential moments appear to exist only because a security camera captured them.

Some stories disappear from the official record. This wasn't one of them.

Check out Essay # 3. Link in the comments.

06/19/2026

06/17/2026

Rekha Basu’s recent Substack article about Iowa’s latest civil rights legislation signed by Kim Reynolds highlights a pattern we’ve seen throughout American history: Public conversations about rights and accountability often fade long before the real consequences do.

That pattern shows up repeatedly with civil rights:
1. A racial incident happens and the public demands change
2. Lawmakers, leaders, and businesses promise action
3. Public attention fades, momentum slows, and many of those promises quietly disappear when the cameras leave

Some of the most important, and sometimes most damaging, decisions are made after public attention disappears.

Take a look at Rekha Basu’s excellent article 👇

Some political leaders use their last year in office to take care of unfinished business, set up their successors for success or show compassion to people who did wrong, by granting pardons and paroles.

05/29/2026

Today is the last day ⌛️

05/14/2026

Three accountability categories: use of force complaints, discrimination complaints, and alleged crimes committed by police...show no data at all. Not zero incidents. No data reported.

Missing data isn't an accident. It's a choice. You can't fix what isn't measured. Transparency starts with reporting.

Want to be part of the change? Don't hesitate to reach out.

05/08/2026

In Des Moines, 56% of all arrests over the last decade were for low-level, non-violent offenses. Black residents were 4.7x more likely to be arrested for those same offenses than white residents.

Des Moines used more force per arrest than 80% of comparable cities nationwide. The score has also dropped 4% over the last five years. Take a look at the data source. Link is in the comments.

04/28/2026

Did you know every police department in Iowa has a public grade? Des Moines scored a 45%. Here's what that means, and what we can do about it.

Over the next few days we're breaking down the numbers, the gaps, and what a real path forward looks like for our community. Take a look for yourself in the meantime, link in the comments.