New law from Iowa's first female governor will send women spiralling backwards

Fewer women in policing will mean more abuses of power in police agencies

As of July 1, a new law signed by Iowa’s first female governor will make it illegal for Des Moines to intentionally recruit, hire or retain female police officers.

It’s a sad day when someone from an underrepresented group like women, who has benefited from efforts to broaden the mix in power, shuts the door behind her. The very institution of policing will suffer for it and so, besides the women excluded, will those who depend on it to protect us, fairly and equally.

This happens just a year after the Des Moines City Council voted unanimously to pay nearly $2.4 million to four female Des Moines Police Department employees who had suffered discrimination at work. Settled days before it was to go to trial, their lawsuit claimed men in the department were promoted over better qualified women, female employees were subjected to sexual harassment and retaliation for complaining, and harassment was known, tolerated - and in some instances encouraged - by higher ups.

Though some of their allegations dated back to the 1990s, the judge only allowed evidence of cases since 2016. The plaintiffs’ attorney Jill Zwagerman said it wasn’t until the lawsuit was filed that the female officers started getting promoted.

It’s easier for such mistreatment to slide by when women are still in the minority in an institution long defined and dominated by men. A 2022 consultant’s report on the DMPD found just a quarter of employees were female. The department hasn’t provided an updated breakdown since, and my email to a spokesman seeking that information got no response.

But the new law will inhibit any effort to correct the imbalances that enabled that culture to thrive. The biggest share of last year’s settlement - $1.1 million – went to plaintiff Tracy Rhoads. Despite being a senior police officer, the suit described how she felt compelled to cut her hair short and stop using makeup in hopes she would look less feminine, and thereby face less sexual harassment from male colleagues.

It’s horrifying that any employee, much less a senior level law-enforcement officer, should have to feel that way – and then be ridiculed for it. The suit said the officer responded to Rhoads by calling her a "crazy f****** dyke.”

The settlement awarded another senior police officer, Jessica Bastian, $450,000 over what the city admitted were explicit naked photos sent to her by the two-decades head of the police union, Stewart Barnes, who asked for the same in return. Still, following an investigation, he was allowed to retire without consequences in 2020.

And Barnes had a history of undermining the authority of women he worked with. In 2009 he sued the DMPD’s first - and still only - female police chief, Judy Bradshaw, for reprimanding him for defending two officers accused of police brutality in the press.

One of those officers was later convicted in federal court for attacking a civilian - who had to get seven staples in his head - and then lying about it. The other officer pleaded guilty to four felony abuses, for which the city paid out half a million dollars.

Making it illegal to recruit more women when the city is paying out millions over the sexism of majority male employees shows how quickly we forget, or how little those in power care about discrimination in the first place. It’s a safe bet we’ll see more such abuses of power with the new law in place. As Zwagerman told me, “When an organization allows some men to treat their female coworkers as inferior, it’s only a matter of time before they feel emboldened to escalate their conduct.”

“Women at the DMPD have been fighting for a seat at the table for years,” she said. “Our lawsuit helped identify that women were being harassed and were not receiving promotions over less qualified men. I think it will be very easy for the DMPD to go back to not promoting women and claim they can’t promote them now because of anti-DEI laws.”

She also pointed out that so-called “DEI,” (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) initiatives, policies and hiring by governmental entities which the law forbids, are “nothing more than just asking people to take a look at their business makeup. There were no requirements to have a diverse workforce. There were no quotas. There were no laws fining businesses because they chose a more qualified candidate over another.”

The larger victims of this law will ultimately be the communities the department serves. As former police chief, Bradshaw made concerted outreach efforts, helping build awareness about the prevalence of sexual assault and domestic violence. She was also committed to telling tough truths within the department, holding it to high standards.

But she herself faced prejudices when first applying to Iowa police departments, where she was told by several in charge that women weren’t welcome. It took being recruited in 1980 by Sgt. Phylliss Henry, who had become the first female DMPD patrol officer in 1972. And despite Bradshaw’s extensive qualifications, including a master's degree in public administration, city administrators dragged their feet on naming her the chief in 2007 when the position became vacant.

No matter how much progress is made, if the efforts aren’t constantly reinforced, there’s a risk of sliding back. Sexism endures. And most successful women, especially from underrepresented populations, stand on the shoulders of others who helped pave the way.

That should be celebrated, not legislated against as if it were preferential treatment. But these are thinly veiled ploys by people of power and privilege to keep it for themselves.

We can’t afford to go backwards, and we won’t be bullied into it.

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