Judge orders Des Moines police to turn over hundreds of use-of-force reports from protests

The Des Moines Police Department must turn over hundreds of reports documenting officers' use of force in 2020, a judge has ruled in an open records lawsuit.

Harvey Harrison, a retired attorney and longtime racial justice advocate, sued the city in 2022 on behalf of his nonprofit group Just Voices to obtain the 2020 records, which include the police department's response to the chaotic and at times violent protests that broke out after the death that year of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police.

The department put out a 2020 Use of Force Report summarizing 282 use-of-force incidents over the full year, but did not publish the 387 individual reports filled by officers for each encounter, including some by multiple officers for the same incident. After the city denied Harrison's request for the raw reports, he sued under Iowa's open records law.

The case landed before District Judge Coleman McAllister, who ruled on Feb. 15 for Harrison.

WATCH: Video shows 'inexplicable' police use of force during 2020 protest response

McAllister dismissed several arguments the city made to keep the reports sealed. State law shields personnel and disciplinary records from disclosure, and city attorneys suggested the use-of-force reports fall into that category because they can be reviewed by an officer's superiors and can trigger disciplinary action — although, as McAllister notes, this is very rare. Only four of the 387 reports filed in 2020 resulted in an internally generated complaint.

Because the reports so rarely result in discipline, and ask only for the facts of what happened rather than any kind of self-assessment by the officer, McAllister ruled they do not amount to performance reviews or disciplinary records under state law.

Judge: Accepting city's argument would mean withholding 'virtually anything' officers write

McAllister also rejected arguments under a separate state law that shield officers' statements in disciplinary proceedings, again finding that at the time officers file a report, no disciplinary proceeding exists.

"The city’s reading ... would mean that virtually anything authored by a police officer would be confidential at least until the officer was no longer employed and subject to discipline," McAllister wrote. "If the Legislature had intended this to be the rule, they could have clearly said so, but they did not."

And while the city argued disclosure might jeopardize investigations or "pose a clear and present danger to the safety of an individual," McAllister found the city has offered no evidence to back that assertion.

The judge's order gives the city 45 days to turn over the reports after redacting private information such as whether the officers were injured. The city also is on the hook for Harrison's attorney fees.

Harrison, via email, said his group plans to incorporate the reports in a study of the department's response to the first days of the Floyd protests.

"I am grateful for the Court’s analysis of the case and a ruling that insures that the public will have access to a more complete understanding of the actions of the Des Moines Police Department during the 2020 protests following George Floyd’s murder," he said. "...  Being able to review the Use of Force Reports that were contemporaneously prepared by DMPD will add additional depth to our work. It will help fill the gap created by the DMPD refusal to prepare an After Action Review of the police conduct during the protests."

The city did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

This article has been updated to correct the date of Judge Coleman McAllister's decision.

William Morris covers courts for the Des Moines Register. He can be contacted at wrmorris2@registermedia.com or 715-573-8166.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Des Moines police must turn over use-of-force reports, judge rules