Iowa Police Records

What are Iowa Police Records?

The Iowa Department of Public Safety was created in 1939 in order to: reduce preventable injuries and deaths, suppress criminal activity, reduce costs of government compliance and promote integrity within the workforce. This department oversees all law enforcement agencies in the state. Each main municipality has its own Iowa Police Department, and counties have local sheriffs.

Divisions of Iowa Police

Divisions of the Iowa Department of Public Safety include the Commissioner's Office, Administrative Services, Criminal Investigation, State Fire Marshal, Intelligence and Fusion, Narcotics Enforcement and Iowa State Patrol.

The Office of the Commissioner provides support to other law enforcement agencies via its four internal bureaus: the Public Information Bureau (for Public/Media Relations), Governor's Traffic Safety Bureau, Professional Development and Professional Standards Bureau.

Iowa's Division of Administrative Services provides support on a daily basis to law enforcement agencies statewide, as well as civilians. Three bureaus comprise this division: Program Services, Technology Services and Finance.

The Division of Criminal Investigation was created in 1921 to provide investigative support to criminal justice agencies across the state. This division has four areas: Criminalistics Laboratory, Field Operations Bureau, Special Enforcement Operations Bureau and Support Operations Bureau.

The State Fire Marshal division investigates arson and explosives, enforces building codes, inspects and issues electrical licenses, advocates for fire prevention and provides fire service training.

Intelligence and Fusion aid other law enforcement agencies in gathering intelligence for investigations, as well as providing this information across state lines. Narcotics Enforcement oversees crimes and laws regarding controlled substances, and the Iowa State Patrol is largely responsible for enforcing motor vehicle laws.

Requesting Iowa Police Records

Some criminal history records are available online without a signed waiver from the subject of your search. However, complete records will require a signed waiver and a $15 fee. Details such as arrests older than 18 months without a disposition and deferred judgments will not be available without a waiver.

Iowa Arrest Records by Type of Crime

The popular arrests for 2017 in Iowa was for All Other Offenses (except traffic) - 32,872, the same popularity of the arrest type was seen in Alabama, Alaska, and Arizona. The least popularity had Prostitution and Commercialized Vice arrests - with only 47 crimes a year.

IA Police Departments by Cities