Nuisance ordinances are punishing victims

If you were concerned about someone harming you or your family, why should you have to think twice about calling police?

But that is the position many Iowans find themselves in because of so-called nuisance ordinances. These ordinances, including the one in Cedar Rapids, attempt to make landlords accountable for criminal activity on their properties. Instead, nuisance ordinances punish victims of domestic abuse, the poor, those with disabilities, and the elderly - all who have higher need for police assistance

Too many or the wrong type of calls to police and your landlord - or you - could be fined for each call. In some cases, a single call can trigger a property being designated as a 'nuisance property.”

Charging $94-Plus for Police Calls

In Cedar Rapids, the ordinance results in a fine of $94 per police officer per hour. Too often, landlords tell their tenants to 'take care of the problem” or to stop calling police. Or they threaten eviction or simply evict the tenants outright.

The right to make domestic violence calls is of particular concern. Domestic violence calls are the single largest category received by police, accounting for 15 to 20 percent nationally. In Cedar Rapids, in a recent three-month period, there were 549 domestic violence calls asking for assistance.

Evidence shows that domestic violence victims rarely call the police after one or two instances of violence. When they do call after that, it's usually because the violence has escalated. However, with nuisance ordinances, fear of eviction can trump personal safety because victims and their children often have little money and nowhere else to go. What's more, a rental record tarnished by eviction can make it impossible to find adequate new housing. Knowing this, batters have used nuisance ordinances as another tool of abuse and control over their victims.

Worsens Homelessness Among Crime Victims

Domestic violence is already the leading cause of homelessness for women. We don't need nuisance ordinances to make the problem even worse.

Nuisance ordinances hurt others as well. For people with disabilities, particularly those with developmental and mental health impairments for whom 'disorderly conduct” often characterizes their interactions with law enforcement, nuisance ordinances are punitive and ineffective. Nuisance ordinances also disproportionately hurt those who live in high-crime neighborhoods, including the elderly, the poor, and communities of color.

Right to Assistance Bill Has Broad Support

There is an opportunity to fix this sad state of affairs, both in Cedar Rapids and in other cities across Iowa. The Right to Assistance bill (HF493) in the Iowa Legislature would prohibit nuisance ordinances that penalize crime victims. The bill has strong support from domestic violence advocates, social workers, and advocates against homelessness. The bill received unanimous bipartisan approval 98-0 in the Iowa House, including from Cedar Rapids Democratic representatives Todd Taylor, Liz Bennett, Art Staed, and Kirsten Running-Marquardt as well as Republicans Ken Rizer and Kraig Paulsen.

Much to the alarm of advocates for women's rights and victims of crime, the bill has not yet advanced in the Senate - although leadership could still move the bill this year. They should do so. This is literally a life or death issue in some cases.

Ordinance Exemptions Don't Work

It's important to understand that 'exemptions” in the current Cedar Rapids ordinance and other similar ordinances are misleading.

These exemptions fail to provide cover for domestic violence victims. And they do not even address the needs of other innocent crime victims to call 911.

Another problem with the exemption in ordinances such as Cedar Rapids': There is no definition of domestic violence in the actual ordinance or the section of the Iowa Code it references.

Further, the ordinance assumes that first responders will recognize that a call actually is indeed a domestic violence issue. As we all know, victims are often reluctant to speak freely so that a first responder would know it's domestic violence, especially when the abuser is present or otherwise involved. If a woman and her abuser say she fell and injured herself, it's hard to determine otherwise.

Also disturbing are the accounts we've heard that Cedar Rapids police may be coding some police calls as non-domestic violence, which allows them to charge for services.

Fortunately, Iowa Senate leadership now has an opportunity to revive the bill and pass it yet this session. The Right to Assistance bill cannot wait. The safety and housing security of hundreds if not thousands of the most vulnerable Iowans is at stake.

' Jeremy Rosen is the executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa. Laurie Schipper is the executive director of the Iowa Coalition Against Domestic Violence. The Iowa Coalition Against Sexual Assault also lends its endorsement to this column. Comments: editor@aclu-ia.org