Iowans with Newton ties react to police-involved shootings

At the end of a week filled with news of death in other parts of the U.S., many emotions and sentiments filled conversations about relationships between law enforcement and citizens.

However, one of those sentiments is one of gratitude. With all the turmoil happening in other places, especially densely populated urban areas, Jasper County residents seem to have confidence in local law enforcement, and their ability to communicate well with officers and leadership.

Two African-American people contacted by the Newton Daily News say their interactions with Jasper County law enforcement have been smooth. Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess and Jasper County Sheriff John Halferty, in turn, say the amount of hate crimes or complaints about racial bias or prejudice in their jurisdictions is minimal.

Terry Sallis, the director of Integrated Treatment Services in Newton, said he realizes many parts of the U.S. have practically become arenas of animosity between police and citizens, and he doesn’t want to see the county fall into that trap.

“I do teach my clients to interact well with law enforcement, and many are fearful,” Sallis said. “Fortunately, the Newton Police Department has a good working relationship with us, and we try to keep that going by encouraging clients to not be adversarial with police.”

Ty Rushing, a resident of Sheldon and a reporter at the Northwest Iowa Review, said he found Jasper County law enforcement to be among the most fair and non-judgmental police he’s encountered in his life.

Rushing lived in Newton and sometimes covered police matters when he worked for the Newton Daily News.
"Where I'm from (Kansas City), I got pulled over a lot — just for being black," Rushing said. "I was handcuffed, a drug dog would be brought out to search my car, that sort of thing. That never happened in Newton."

Rushing said he observed county law enforcement treat people of color fairly in other ways. Unfortunately, his positive experience was not duplicated when he left Jasper County in late 2014.

“I’ve been pulled over about four times since I moved here,” Rushing said.

The Kansas City native said while the Latino population in his area is large, there are hardly any African-Americans.
"Newton is like a black oasis compared to northwest Iowa," he said.

There is enough concern over local race issues in Newton for citizens to have recently formed the Racial Justice Working Group and to discuss race-related topics at political events, there have been some important steps forward.
Melvin Conley, who relocated to Newton from the south side of Chicago in 2002, said there have been times when he has broken the law and police were involved. However, he feels police coming into situations with guns drawn, before asking questions, does not keep officers more safe and escalates residents or drivers on scene.

“There’s no reason that can’t be remedied without waving guns around,” Conley said. “That doesn’t get answers or keep people from making fast moves, I don’t think. If anything, it makes people more antsy.”

Burdess said hate and race-involved crimes are not among the most common incidents handled by NPD. He said it will take some research to determine exactly how many reports the department has received this year, if any.

“Off the top of my head, I am not aware of any reported hate crimes in the recent years,” Burdess said. “The FBI compiles a hate crimes report annually, but have not released 2015 yet.”

Nationally, 47 percent of all single-bias hate crimes reported in 2014 were driven by race. Religious and sexual orientation bias were both at about 18 percent. There were only eight hate crimes motivated by race reported in Iowa in 2014, using FBI criteria, with none in Jasper County.

Halferty echoed what Burdess said in terms of it being uncommon in the county to encounter a hate crime, hate speech or accusations of racial bias. If there are any such reports, Halferty said his office takes those complaints seriously.

“If there is a complaint about racial bias or prejudice between citizens, then we log the complaint and investigate as needed,” Halferty said. “I cannot think of any recently that may have been reported. We document all reports with the same software program that we use. Specific details are included depending on what the complaint or investigation reveals. I can have our office staff research this.”

Sallis said the incidents gaining attention across the country are nothing new; what’s new is the user-friendly technology and features, such as Facebook Live, that allow for fast-traveling news and powerful, emotion-evoking images.

“The only thing that’s changed is technology,” Sallis said. “These kinds of personally devastating incidents are as old as this country. I’m 65 years old — and I’ve been dealing with prejudice for 55 of those years.”

Contact Jason W. Brooks at 641-792-3121 ext. 6532 or jbrooks@newtondailynews.com