Iowa City Today

The Iowa City Police Department said they are getting an average of five calls per day, from community members that are concerned about their neighbors not following COVID-19 social distancing guidelines, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Police said they have also received calls questioning whether certain businesses should be open now that Gov. Kim Reynolds has ordered "non-essential" businesses to close their doors and prohibited gatherings of more than 10 people.  

Iowa City Mayor Bruce Teague, declared a civil emergency in the city, giving the police department the power to make arrests, issue fines and give citations for to anyone in violation of the governor's emergency order.

Iowa City Police Sgt. Derek Frank told the Iowa City Press-Citizen officers have not started issuing citations yet.

If officers choose to arrest someone who violated social distancing guidelines, that person could be charged for violating a lawful order which is considered a simple misdemeanor, according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.  

When they receive a complaint about a business, officers will either go to the location or call the business to assess the situation and inform them of social distancing guidelines.

If police receive a call about a gathering of more than 10 people, they will go to that location and educate those involved about the importance of following the governor's emergency order.

"We're not trying to be heavy-handed," Sgt. Frank told the Iowa City Press-Citizen. "We want to educate people and remind them to be safe and that's what we'll do first."

Sgt. Franks said his department has not been categorizing COVID-19 related calls in a way that helps them track the exact number of COVID-19 related complaints they have received but the department is changing that.  

Previously, calls were being labeled "phone request," or "information," or "public assist," according to the Iowa City Press-Citizen.

Moving forward the department will place all COVID-19 related calls into a "COVID complaint" log so they can be accurately counted.