Who was killed
| Recorded race | Killed by police | Share |
|---|---|---|
| White | 65 | 0.0% |
| Black | 15 | 0.0% |
| Unknown race | 11 | 0.0% |
| Hispanic | 9 | 0.0% |
| Native American | 1 | 0.0% |
Recorded by Mapping Police Violence from public reporting and official sources. Where race was not established it is recorded as not recorded, and that category is shown rather than removed.
What the person was recorded as armed with
| Recorded as armed with | Killed by police |
|---|
Agencies in Iowa with enough records to report
Only agencies recorded in at least 12 incidents are given their own page. Most of the 4,641 agencies in the database appear once or twice, and a page built on one or two incidents would say nothing.
| Agency | Type | Killed by police | Body camera on |
|---|---|---|---|
| Des Moines Police Department | 16 | 44.4% |
Where a complaint goes in Iowa
A complaint normally goes first to the agency's own internal affairs division. Larger cities may also have a civilian review board or independent monitor. The Iowa Attorney General can investigate patterns of misconduct, and the federal Department of Justice can open a pattern-or-practice investigation.
A civil claim for a violation of constitutional rights is usually brought under 42 U.S.C. § 1983. Deadlines are set by Iowa law, not federal law, and they are strict.
How people were killed
| Cause of death | Deaths | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Gunshot | 98 | 97.0% |
| Taser | 2 | 2.0% |
| Gunshot, Taser | 1 | 1.0% |
Where more than one means is recorded for the same death, both appear in the combined category rather than being counted twice.
Were any officers charged
Of the 101 deaths recorded in Iowa, 0 led to a criminal charge against an officer, 0.0% of them. In 101 there is no known charge.
Share a finding about Iowa
Every statement here is generated from the published figures by code. None of it is written by a person or produced by a language model, and each one carries its source and its period so you can check it before you pass it on.
60 separate law enforcement agencies in Iowa appear in this database. The United States has no single national police force, and each of those agencies runs its own complaints process.
Source: Mapping Police Violence, 2013 to 2026. Figures as published; see the tables on this page for the full denominators.
Iowa policing in the news
The five most recent reports mentioning this force, collected automatically. Headlines and links belong to the publishers named. We do not edit, summarise or endorse them, and inclusion here does not imply any finding against anyone.
- Former Iowa Falls officer sues IFPD, City, and others
- Police chase injuries rising, Iowa lacks statewide data to track them
- Dash-cam video undercuts former Iowa officer’s deer claim
- Former police officer challenges state’s efforts to decertify him for alleged ‘lies’
- Iowa no longer requires bias training for police. What happens next?
Data last refreshed , covering 2013 to 2026. Every figure on this page is recomputed from the source datasets, not edited by hand. Found something wrong? Tell us.