Respect for the Uniform

Captions: 1. On left, Iowa City Community School District board director Chris Liebig; on right in foreground, Henri Harper, Iowa City Police Department Community Outreach Officer Henri Harper. 2. Henri Harper in uniform at a neighborhood meeting in city hall downtown on Washington Street, Iowa City.

First, I must emphasize that I am speaking as one Iowa City Community School District board director. My comments do not represent the entire board’s opinion. The ICCSD’s decision to put the police outreach to students program on hold quoted the district’s equity and staffing director Kingsley Botchway saying “‘actors from the partner agency shall be non-offensive (i.e., not in uniform).’”

I would like to make something very clear: As an ICCSD Board member, I will never ask a law enforcement officer, firefighter, EMT, or any other community civil servant to remove their uniform or badge as a prerequisite for entering one of our school buildings.

I agree fully with Sheriff Lonny Pulkrabek’s comment that anyone making statements like those in the article is offensive. As school officials, we are charged with educating the next generation of community leaders and citizens. The program alluded to in the article was meant to counteract negative impressions that some people may have toward law enforcement officers. It is vitally important that students recognize that community civil servants are there to help and assist them.

Henri Harper, whose efforts to mentor and make students more comfortable with law enforcement, was inducted into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame on Friday, 11/4/16. He joins the ranks of George Washington Carver, Simon Estes and Phillip Hubbard. Henri’s mentoring of our students was not paid for out of the ICCSD general fund. I applaud the efforts of the Iowa City Police Department and the City of Iowa City Council in hiring Henri Harper as a Community Outreach Officer. Instead of the program being “suspended” or stopped, Henri’s efforts should be supported and encouraged.

Phil Hemingway
ICCSD Board Director