1. A law enforcement agency shall provide annual training to every law enforcement officer on issues relating to de-escalation techniques and the prevention of bias. Every law enforcement officer in the state must participate in annual training in accordance with this section.

Terms Used In Iowa Code 80B.11G

  • Academy: means the Iowa law enforcement academy. See Iowa Code 80B.3
  • following: when used by way of reference to a chapter or other part of a statute mean the next preceding or next following chapter or other part. See Iowa Code 4.1
  • Law enforcement officer: means an officer appointed by the director of the department of natural resources, a member of a police force or other agency or department of the state, county, city, or tribal government regularly employed as such and who is responsible for the prevention and detection of crime and the enforcement of the criminal laws of this state and all individuals, as determined by the council, who by the nature of their duties may be required to perform the duties of a peace officer. See Iowa Code 80B.3
  • state: when applied to the different parts of the United States, includes the District of Columbia and the territories, and the words "United States" may include the said district and territories. See Iowa Code 4.1
 2. The academy shall develop and disseminate training guidelines for all law enforcement officers consistent with best practice guidelines.
 3. Every law enforcement officer shall adhere to the training guidelines developed by the academy pursuant to this section. The training guidelines shall include all of the following:

 a. An emphasis on law enforcement officer understanding and respect for diverse communities and the importance of effective, noncombative methods of carrying out law enforcement activities in a diverse community.
 b. Instruction on diverse communities in order to foster mutual respect and cooperation between law enforcement and members of all diverse communities.
 c. An examination of the patterns, practices, and protocols that cause biased law enforcement actions, and the tools to prevent such actions.
 d. An examination and identification of key indices and perspectives that make up differences among residents in a local community.
 e. Instruction on implicit bias and consideration of the negative impact of bias, whether intentional or implicit, on effective law enforcement, including examination of how historical perceptions of profiling have harmed community relations.
 f. Instruction on the perspectives of diverse local constituency groups from experts on particular cultural and law enforcement-community relations issues in a local area.
 g. A presentation of the history and the role of the civil rights movement and the impact on law enforcement.
 h. Instruction on de-escalation techniques, including verbal and physical tactics to minimize the need for the use of force and nonlethal methods of applying force.
 4. In developing the training guidelines, the academy shall consult with the Iowa civil rights commission, groups and individuals having an interest and expertise in the field of cultural awareness and diversity, and advocacy organizations with an interest and expertise in the field of biased law enforcement actions. The academy shall also consult with local law enforcement agencies to consider challenges and barriers to providing training under the guidelines and methods to ease the burden on such agencies.
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