DOWNTOWN ISSUES: Police discuss challenges facing business owners

Newton Police Chief Rob Burdess told a room full of business owners attending a forum about issues affecting the downtown district that they would not solve all the world’s problems in a day, but he hoped the discussion on Sept. 22 inside the Hotel Maytag ballroom would at least provide some direction and perspective.

Burdess and the Newton Police Department’s community engagement officer, Julie Britton, spent more than two hours discussing homelessness, mental health, substance use disorders and property crimes, as well as how to address these issues in the downtown area.

Homelessness received the most attention. The issue is complex, Burdess said, and it’s one downtown business owners are becoming more aware of.

The visibility of people experiencing homelessness has increased. However, Burdess said homelessness isn’t anything new to Newton. In the past people without a place of residence would stay at friends’ homes. Now, Newton and other areas of rural Iowa are seeing homelessness from a “street level.”

Why? Burdess said there are a number of factors contributing to the increased visibility of homelessness in rural Iowa. Changes to criminal justice reform, community corrections becoming the default approach to policing and broken mental health systems are among contributing factors, Burdess said.

Plus, there are fewer probation officers to keep folks on the right path.

“So it’s like having a daycare of 50 kids and one daycare provider watching these kids — it doesn’t work,” Burdess said. “… The criminal justice system’s broken. It’s never been right. It’s never going to be right. To prosecution, to judges, to correctional systems — all the way through it’s broken.”

Police are at the bottom leg of the criminal justice system, he added; officers “take the heat” most of the time. When people — not just those experiencing homelessness — are taken to jail, they’re out of jail before officers can file their reports. It’s a challenge, Burdess said.

Although not all people experiencing homelessness have mental illness, there are many who do. Burdess said Newton has resources and there are times when officers try to direct individuals to those specific places that can help, such as: Capstone Behavioral Healthcare, Discover Hope 517, Optimae, etc.

“Jasper County is very, very fortunate for the resources we have for substance use disorders and mental health,” he said. “There are other rural counties in Iowa that would die for the resources we have. We have resources but not enough in that to get an appointment could be three weeks to a month.”

Finding beds for individuals with severe mental illness or substance use disorders is difficult, too. Convincing those to receive treatment or help is also a challenging task, even when the resources are available. This does ultimately affect the community. In Newton, the downtown district is taking the brunt of it.

Crime rates in Newton have decreased according to statistics

The September meeting, organized by the Newton Police Department, was attended by about 30 people. Burdess, a police officer in Newton for the past 22 years, didn’t shy away from revisiting the town’s criminal history and its former title as one of the “meth capitals of the United States.”

By the 1990s and early 2000s, the city’s drug problem was becoming more widely known through HBO specials and New York Times articles. It was not uncommon to have seven meth labs a month in Jasper County, Burdess said. Most of the violent crimes at that time were related to alcohol or drugs.

“We had several different shifts at Maytag working … How many bars did we have in 2000? We had a lot. We had a lot of people coming in to town and working every day. When they got off work, they went to the bars,” Burdess said, noting workers from other factories and supplemental businesses did the same thing.

But things have changed a lot since then. The town, for one, has much fewer bars. The number of meth labs across the state have decreased drastically, but the drug is now purer and easier to buy. Crimes committed in 2021 are much different than the crimes committed back then. Policing has changed, too.

“Who do you call when you have a problem? Who is open 24/7? The police department,” Burdess said. “So if you’re having a mental health crisis, who do you call? You call us … If you’re having a civil issue — a neighbor or life in general — you call us.”

Oftentimes police are called on to be the “social crusaders” of the community, he added, which is resulting in officers devoting “more time than (they’ve) ever spent” to address substance use disorders, mental health issues and civil issues.

Echoing statements the city administrator made in a Sept. 14 letter to a resident who claimed the town is unsafe, Burdess said Newton is the safest it’s ever been.

Since 2000, crime rates in Newton have dropped by 45 percent. Property crimes decreased by 27 percent as well. Newton City Administrator Matt Muckler said the decrease in crime could be attributed to the pandemic, but so far in 2021, the rate of crime has stayed on pace with the 2020 numbers.

Vagrancy is not a crime, but there are ways to address it

The police department in June assigned Britton to take on the role of community engagement officer. Part of Britton’s job is to connect and communicate with business owners to find out what issues they’re experiencing. Attendees of the meeting agreed trespassing and vagrancy issues have become more frequent.

Britton’s calls for service statistics certainly confirm those sentiments. In 2019, the police department received only seven calls in the downtown area. In 2020, police received 13 calls. And in 2021 the department has so far received 24 calls. Britton passed out a pamphlet to attendees telling them how to avoid issues:

• Talk to your Cops & Neighborhood United Zone Officer for your area or CEO Britton about any problems with homeless people.

• Post “No Loitering or Trespassing” signs.

• Install surveillance cameras to cover public areas.

• Keep the area around the property free of trash, litter, junk, etc.

• Lock the dumpster or trash cans up until collection day.

• Secure outside storage sheds or containers.

• Lock and turn off exterior power outlets and water.

• Password protect your wi-fi.

• Install motion-activated exterior lighting for after hours.

• Trim landscaping to eliminate hiding places.

• Restrict access to sidewalk overhangs, alcoves or other areas protected from inclement weather.

• Use graffiti-resistant paint or anti-graffiti coatings on the sides of the building or sheds. Report graffiti and other vandalism, and clean up promptly after the officers have taken pictures, etc.

• Avoid confrontations and maintain a safe distance. Use caution in dealing with them.

• If homeless people are loitering around your business and won’t leave, call the non-emergency phone number at 641-792-1547.

It is against the law to arrest someone for being homeless. Vagrancy laws have been found by the U.S. Supreme Court to be unconstitutional. Addressing charges related to homelessness can be tricky for police officers.

Individuals can be ticketed for loitering, or being in an area for no purpose and potentially causing issues. In the past, a trespassing charge was often used and abused against homeless populations, resulting in fuller jails. The Iowa Legislature changed the law years ago to make trespassing a citable offense.

The prospects of a homeless shelter may be driven by good intentions, but Burdess said most providers in the area say it will only exacerbate the problem. Robbie Robinson, founder of Discover Hope 517, echoed these sentiments, saying the provider does not believe in enabling.

Discover Hope does want to address the issue. Within the next month, the organization plans to launch a men’s transitional housing program, which offers a bed for up to 10 people at a time. Residents must maintain full-time employment, pay rent, do house chores and attend support groups.

Newton Police Department also directed business owners to the list of resources available to individuals:

• Discover Hope 517 can be reached at 641-841-0598 and provides free lunches 11:30 a.m.-1 p.m. every weekday, men’s transitional housing in fall 2021, addiction recovery support services 5:30-7 p.m. Tuesdays.

• Salvation Army can be reached at 641-792-6131 and provides a breadline 9:30-11:30 a.m. every Friday, food pantry services once every 30 days and vouchers for clothing, household items.

• Capstone Connections is open 9 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday at 306 N. Third Ave. E. and provides a peer support drop-in center and offers lunches around 11 a.m.

• Newton YMCA is open for showers but must be called ahead at 641-792-4006.

• Rolling Hills Coalition can be reached at 1-833-739-0065 for re-housing assistance.

• United Way of Jasper County, 641-792-1684

• Capstone Behavioral Healthcare, 641-792-4012

• Optimae, 641-787-9133

• Central Iowa Shelter & Services, 515-284-5719

• Clearview Recovery in Prairie City, 515-994-3562

• Your Life Iowa – Crisis Response, call 855-581-8111 or text 855-895-8398

Contact Christopher Braunschweig at 641-792-3121 ext. 6560 or cbraunschweig@newtondailynews.com