DES MOINES, Iowa — During the Des Moines City Council's work session Monday morning, they discussed an assessment, provided by 21CP Solutions, which included a list of recommendations they believe would improve policing in the city.
A review of the Des Moines Police Department's culture and workflow began a year ago, covering the department's policies, procedures, training and culture.
The newly released report contains 46 recommendations in all, in what Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) say could improve public safety as well.
"This is not an attack on the police, that's what they need to understand," said Veola Perry, Iowa CCI racial justice team member. "What they need to know, is that we as a group are working to make sure that there's equitable treatment of all races."
Iowa CCI member Peter Clay added: "Law enforcement that takes into account the necessity of everybody being treated FAIRLY and equitably in our city, it is crucial."
One of the recommendations is the creation of a community review board, which would allow residents to provide suggestions on policing strategies and give them "a better idea" of what is going on within their city's police department.
The recommendations came from community members and councilmembers over the past year, asking Des Moines police to improve transparency so everyone can feel safe in Des Moines.
This review board has been a recommendation mayor-elect Connie Boesen has championed the past few months along her campaign.
"We are doing a good job, but there is room for improvements," she said. "There's areas such as community policing, there's expansion of our mental health crisis teams."
Boesen also mentioned some of the recommendations brought before the council Monday are already being implemented, but there are still others the city must review.
The council said in their work session they would have regular updates on the implementation, but they weren’t specific in frequency of those updates.