Editorial: Iowa law agency ought to follow the laws of Iowa
Published 9:23 am Wednesday, March 12, 2014
It’s disconcerting when law enforcement agencies refuse to follow the law, as though they are somehow above the law they have sworn to enforce.
Such is the case with the Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, which has refused to turn over records of its completed investigation into the Sept. 22 death of a man in Northwood who was stunned with a Taser by law enforcement officers.
Iowa courts have ruled time and again that police investigations are public once they are completed. Despite this, Jeff Peterzalek, an assistant attorney general who advises the DCI, told the Des Moines Register his interpretation of the law is that public records may continue to stay secret after an investigation ends.
To make that interpretation, Peterzalek must either be a lousy lawyer who skipped his law-school classes on precedence or else he knows he is lying to Iowa’s largest newspaper.
What that means is people might as well break laws in Iowa. Heck, the state’s top law enforcement agency doesn’t obey the law, why should the people?
There clearly is a public interest in the Taser-related death of 39-year-old Michael Zubrod. Worthy County sheriff’s deputies subdued him with a Taser while he was on methamphetamine and attacking his girlfriend with a scissors and a hammer. The deputies were cleared of wrongdoing by Worth County Attorney Jeffrey Greve, and probably deservedly so. But considering that Greve, who relied on the DCI report, and the deputies work in the same edifices in Northwood pretty much on a daily basis, often on the same criminal matters, it’s a lot like the left hand forgiving the right hand for spilling milk.
Shedding the spotlight of public scrutiny on the result of the investigation shows that the DCI cares about the honesty in government, especially for the sake of the people of Worth County. It should come as no surprise that the public wants answers when a person dies in connection to interaction with their government.
After all, let’s not forget that law enforcement officers are representatives of our government, paid for by the good tax-paying residents they protect. The DCI investigation of that case was paid for by the taxpayers of Iowa. They deserve to see what they bought. Plus, the results of the investigation contributes to the national debate on the use and abuse of Tasers by the law enforcement community. There is a greater public good to serve.
If the actions of the deputies indeed were in the right, then let the public see for themselves.
We should hope that Iowa Attorney General Tom Miller cares more about the people of Iowa than to keep a police investigation secret. It’s out of character for him, and we hope he sees the wisdom in releasing the investigation with alacrity.
His job is not to circumvent the law. It’s not to interpret what’s convenient. It’s to follow the law, even if he disagrees with it.