Correction: one data correction, but it doesn't change the story

IOWA CCI REVISITS NUMBERS AND ISSUES ONE DATA CORRECTION Initial claim that Kyle Thies’s 2017 bookings were 100% Black incorrect, but corrected numbers don’t change the story – he has a history of profiling Des Moines, IA--Our initial claim that Officer Kyle Thies’s 2017 bookings were 100% Black people was incorrect. But Iowa CCI members contend that corrected numbers for Officer Theis' booking history still tell the same story.The Black population in Des Moines is just over 10%. In 2017, 49% of Thies's bookings were Black people.Taking out duplicate charges for people, these are the numbers Iowa CCI is claiming Kyle Thies booked in 2017.Yesterday, Iowa CCI released body and dash camera footage of racial profiling by two Des Moines police officers in a July 15 traffic stop. Included in the release were data sets of Kyle Thies, Senior Police Officer with the Des Moines Police Department. “We unfortunately had this piece of the data wrong. But unlike the DMPD, we can admit our mistake and take responsibility," said Bridget Fagan-Reidburn, community organizer with Iowa CCI. "The updated data for Thies’s booking history still tells the same story. In our opinion, he has a clear pattern of targeting young Black males and it has to stop."

CCI members hope the release of the video and data will be a catalyst for change. "We were disappointed in Officer Parizek’s response yesterday. For years, DMPD leaders have denied that a problem exists. Rather than acknowledging our complaints and our concerns they attack and attempt to discredit," said Laural Clinton, mother of the passenger in the video and CCI member from Des Moines. "How can Chief Wingert and Officer Parizek view that video and still say they don’t have a racial profiling problem? I think the Black community wants to hear accountability from the police. This is why there is a trust issue, why we need to make racial profiling illegal, and have an independent review of police complaints.” After releasing the footage, Iowa CCI launched a petition calling for the Des Moines Police Department and the Des Moines City Council to end racial profiling. The petition has been signed by over 550 residents in less than 24 hours. ##

Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement is a statewide, grassroots people’s action group that uses community organizing to win public policy that puts communities before corporations and people before profits, politics and polluters. CCI has been fighting to put people first for over 45 years. Follow us on Twitter at @iowacci.