Stats debated again under Iowa City’s 21-only law

IOWA CITY – It was a bit of a role reversal Tuesday night for opponents of Iowa City's 21-only ordinance.

For weeks, they've been saying alcohol-related police statistics could not accurately portray the effects of the law, which bans people younger than 21 from being in a bar after 10 p.m. Underage drinking had moved from downtown bars, where police officers writing citations are a common sight, to house parties, where officers are rarely called, they argued.

But during a forum hosted by the Iowa City Press-Citizen and Daily Iowan newspapers attended by more than 100 people, they said the data was on their side leading up to the Nov. 2 election, when voters will decide whether to repeal the law.

“In this debate, facts matter,” said Matt Pfaltzgraf, campaign manager for Yes to Entertaining Students Safely.

Pfaltzgraf and Leah Cohen, owner of Bo-James restaurant and bar in downtown Iowa City and a member of the Iowa City Safety Committee, spoke against the 21-only ordinance. Iowa City Mayor Matt Hayek and Tom Rocklin, the University of Iowa's interim vice president of student services, represented the group 21 Makes Sense in speaking for the law.

Cohen and Pfaltzgraf took 21 Makes Sense to task for citing only alcohol-related offenses from the Iowa City Police Department covering from when the law took effect June 1 through September, compared with the same period last year.

They said there is a 2.1 percent increase in alcohol-related crime for that period when combining Iowa City and UI Public Safety arrests. Using just Iowa City police stats shows a 14.4 percent decrease, they said.

UI police has stepped up its patrols downtown in recent months and the university has cracked down on tailgating during football games, leading to more citations. The Iowa City Safety Committee's comparison leaves out open container violations, acknowledging those are up because of the increased enforcement during tailgating.

They also criticized 21 Makes Sense's use of calls for service to police rather than just arrests, with Pfaltzgraf saying students at house parties are not going to call the police when there is a problem like a fight.

Hayek said calls for service are important because they show levels of activity. He also noted that Cohen's and Pfaltzgraf's groups have made safety a central part of their campaigns and had predicted there would be “chaos” in the neighborhoods if 21-only stayed in place. That hasn't happened, he said.

Also, UI police do not patrol the neighborhoods and the statistics continue to show a marked decrease in many activities there, he said.

“We stand by our stats, and law enforcement agrees with them,” Hayek said.