WEST DES MOINES – A bill is making waves at the statehouse, this one involves surveillance cameras in public bathrooms.
Right now government owned buildings including public libraries and schools are allowed to install “monitoring devices” in specific parts of the bathrooms. For example a camera can be pointed to the sink area as long as you cannot see inside the stalls. Senator Mark Lofgren R-Muscatine said there’s a gray area as to whether this is legal and it’s all about intent and that is what SSB1184 addresses.
According to lawmakers Iowa City Public Library has had security cameras in its bathrooms for at least a decade. A community member reached out to the the American Civil Liberties Union which then reached out to legislators and requested a change in the law.
“What they were told is it more or less had to do with public safety or theft,” said Lofgren.
Darryl Eschete is the library director at the West Des Moines Public Library.
He said he can understand why some locations would use cameras.
“In my own career I’ve seen let’s say people purposefully breaking toilets off of a wall which can be hundreds of dollars if not thousands of dollars. I mean just to have a $90 camera on the wall is a lot more cost effective for someone managing a facility,” explained Eschete.
There are no cameras inside the West Des Moines Public Library bathrooms but there is surveillance outside the doors. This allows them to monitor who is coming in and out without actually taking it to a higher level.
“I think there’s a concern on most people’s parts that every part of a bathroom is intimate,” said Eschete.
A subcommittee passed the study bill Tuesday night. Senators expect there to be multiple amendments but we’re told most lawmakers believe there should be more restrictions.
