# I hate the Iowa State Police. **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [September 6, 2003, 5:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955 "2003-09-06T17:13:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/21 "2003-09-06T23:15:02Z")
> [@](#): > > _Originally posted by Spavined Gelding I’m not sure I pay much attention to being pulled over by the university security service when I’m no place close to Iowa State. I suppose that the U-cops could be properly certified peace officers, but this doesn’t strike me as a good idea on several levels–not the least of which is taking some portion of the U’s budget, an increasing portion of which comes from students instead of the state legislature, and using it to fund what does not look like the traditional function of Iowa State A&M._ Yeah, I didn’t think it was a very good idea either. I read about it in the Ames Tribune. [Here’s the article](http://www.amestrib.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=10086618&BRD=2035&PAG=461&dept_id=238101&rfi=8). DPS is one part of ISU that could really use some budget cuts. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/22 "2003-09-06T23:15:15Z")
> [@](#): > > The operators manual for the radar gun I use indicates that it is acurate +/- 1mph. Shit!!! It’s the cops!! Are you sure it’s a radar gun and not a 1920’s Style Death Ray??? :smack: and I was about to pit people who bring 1920’s style Death Rays into every thres they stumble on. ---
**Author:** ![Mr.Babbington](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d6d6ee/32.png) [@Mr.Babbington](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Babbington)\ **Post date:** [September 6, 2003, 11:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/23 "2003-09-06T23:16:44Z")
oops. I meant “every **thread** they stumble on.” ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 4:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/24 "2003-09-07T04:26:47Z")
Pennsylvania Motor Vehicle Code, Title 75 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes and Related Statutes, as Amended §3368. Speed timing devices ©Mechanical, electrical and electronic devices authorized. (2)Except as otherwise provided in paragraph (3), electronic devices such as radio-microwave devices (commonly referred to as electronic speed meters or radar) may be used only by members of the Pennsylvania State Police. (3)Electronic devices which calculate speed by measuring elapsed time between measured road surface points by using two sensors and devices which measure and calculate the average speed of a vehicle between any two points may be used by any police officer. (4)No person may be convicted upon evidence obtained through the use of devices authorized by paragraphs (2) and (3) unless the speed recorded is six or more miles per hour in excess of the legal speed limit. Furthermore, no person may be convicted upon evidence obtained through the use of devices authorized by paragraph (3) in an area where the speed limit is less than 55 miles per hour if the speed recorded is less than ten miles per hour in excess of the legal speed limit. I did make a minor error in my previous post, when consulting the text, a change took place effective 6/23/2003. My bad. ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 4:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/25 "2003-09-07T04:56:40Z")
Forgive my doubtfulness, but you have to admit that is one strange code. What exactly would be the purpose of having a speed limit, then having a code that in all actuallity gives motorists the ability to legally exceed it? Very unusual if you ask me. ---
**Author:** ![danceswithcats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/9e8a1a/32.png) [@danceswithcats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/danceswithcats)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/26 "2003-09-07T06:26:50Z")
I believe that the latitude afforded by the Code is placed there because speedometer error could be presented as a logical defense, and because we’re all human, and thereby faulty to a certain degree. ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 1:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/27 "2003-09-07T13:17:37Z")
Goddam rude bastards. Having to wait 20 minutes for the cop to arrive sucks. Didn’t they notice you were in a hurry, I mean for fuck’s sake, you were speeding and all. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/28 "2003-09-07T14:09:29Z")
Got any proof that the other police officer was eating a donut as opposed to citing some other moron? [Evidently the University of Iowa’s Department of Public Safety](http://www.uiowa.edu/~pubsfty/patrol.htm#PatrolActivities) are actual law enforcement officers (aka “real cops”), just like the police are at the University of California. Those cops don’t look unarmed. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 2:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/29 "2003-09-07T14:54:00Z")
**Monty** , there was a big brough-hoo a couple or five years ago about arming the University Police at Iowa City. It is my recollection that the decision was that the U-cops were not to be armed and that if they needed to have some one shot they were to call the Iowa City P.D. I must admit that from the photo on your link it looks like the cops are carrying something on their right hip that looks suspiciously like a holster for a side arm. It might help to remember that we have two different universities here: The University of Iowa at Iowa City with the medical school and the law school, on Interstate 80 in the eastern part of the state, a member of the Big 10; and Iowa State University at Ames on Interstate 35 in the central part of the state with the veterinary school and a world renowned engineering school, a member of the Big 12. And last but not least the imaginary university that people on the fringes of the country know: The University of Iowa at Idaho City , Ohio. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 4:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/30 "2003-09-07T16:19:35Z")
Well, spavined, maybe; however, I’d welcome a cite indicating they are not to be armed. The link indicates that they are, in fact, law enforcent officers. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 5:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/31 "2003-09-07T17:21:05Z")
The U of I DPS carries Tazers, which look like handguns. Your cite is as close as a simple google search that you can do yourself. ---
**Author:** ![zamboniracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/e9a140/32.png) [@zamboniracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zamboniracer)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/32 "2003-09-07T18:12:32Z")
Regarding the “10 mph” official and/or unofficial cushion, I recall (but can’t currently find a link to) a Dave Barry column where he called 65 mpf the “National Pretend Speed Limit” and suggested that rather than raising cash by arresting speeders, that the states raise cash by having a little roadside stand where drivers stop and pay money to find out what the speed limit is that day. ---
**Author:** ![mhendo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mhendo/32/3159_2.png) [@mhendo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mhendo)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 6:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/33 "2003-09-07T18:19:04Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by danceswithcats \* > \*\*Law Enforcement Professionals are trying to do a job, not make your life miserable. \*\* This sentence requires the word “some” at the beginning. Maybe, if we’re being generous, “most.” ---
**Author:** ![county](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ce7236/32.png) [@county](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/county)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/34 "2003-09-07T19:09:18Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by mhendo \* > \*\*This sentence requires the word “some” at the beginning. Maybe, if we’re being generous, “most.” \*\* Absolutely, either some or most. That sounded like something you’d hear in a Public Affairs video. ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 7, 2003, 9:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/35 "2003-09-07T21:11:00Z")
Wikkit: I’m not the one who asserted a particular group of cops were unarmed. ---
**Author:** ![Spavined\_Gelding](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/958977/32.png) [@Spavined\_Gelding](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spavined_Gelding)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 1:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/36 "2003-09-08T01:08:43Z")
**Monty** , I don’t question that the U-cops at Iowa City, at Ames and at U Northern Iowa at Cedar Falls, and for all I know at the School for the Blind and any other Board of Regents institutions, are qualified peace officers and graduates of the Law Enforcement Academy. I do question weather they are authorized to carry fire arms. It is my recolection that they are not authorized firearms. I do think, again based on my recolection, that they are authorized non-lethal weapons like night sticks and Tazers–but not pistols, shotguns, street sweeper automatic and semiautomatic firearms or three-ton safes suspended from cranes mounted on their mopeds. What difference does it make anyway? Especially in a thread about remote apprehension of traffic offenders? ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/37 "2003-09-08T01:57:20Z")
From the link I posted earlier: > [@](#): > > The Department of Public Safety participates with other local law enforcement agencies at events throughout the year. > > Examples of these activities include joint traffic enforcement on the I-80 corridor through Iowa City and alcohol enforcement at Iowa City area bars and restaurants. These activities are sponsored by the Iowa Governor’s Traffic Safety Bureau. ---
**Author:** ![Wikkit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c0e974/32.png) [@Wikkit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wikkit)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/38 "2003-09-08T02:30:31Z")
So where is your proof that they are armed? Two people from Iowa are saying they aren’t, and all you’re going on is a picture where you mistook a tazer for a firearm. Cite? ---
**Author:** ![pkbites](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pkbites/32/204_2.png) [@pkbites](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pkbites)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/39 "2003-09-08T02:54:19Z")
I just called the U of I DPS at (319)335-5022. They informed me that their officers DO NOT carry firearms, but do carry tazers. There is your answer. As a police officer I can’t fathom how a sworn police officer can do his job with part of the force continuum taken away from him. I can tell you this: The University of Wisconsin police are armed, as they should be. A person in a uniform with no firearm is not a cop…he’s a security guard (if you ask me.) ---
**Author:** ![Monty](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/monty/32/47_2.png) [@Monty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Monty)\ **Post date:** [September 8, 2003, 3:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955/40 "2003-09-08T03:32:47Z")
I didn’t say I mistook jack for jack. I asked for cite that those real cops weren’t armed. So far all I’ve gotten is speculation and possible recollection. Cite where I mistook jack for jack. So kiss off. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/i-hate-the-iowa-state-police/199955.md?page=3)