Letter to the Editor: Violent crime in an election year

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Posted Monday, March 16, 2026 7:02 am

Three state Republican representatives are flaunting an initiative this year with a serious “tough on crime” agenda. The most egregious of the three is one that requires a mandatory minimum 20-year prison sentence without parole for a person convicted of multiple specific crimes. What began as House Study Bill 666 (truly the Devil’s bill) passed out of the House Judiciary Committee on a party line vote and became House File 2542 after the House passed it with three Republicans voting “Nay” with the Democrats, and seven Democrats voting “Aye” with the majority Republicans.

Rep. Steven Holt, the floor manager of the bill, stated that he is sick and tired of dangerous criminals being convicted of violent crimes and being released back into society after serving short sentences in prison.

Enhancing penalties is one of the biggest red herrings in the lawmaking business. It looks like the legislature is doing “something” to prevent crime from occurring, but it does very little to prevent crime. It places a defendant in prison or jail for a longer period of time, where the offender learns how to be a better criminal, while stewing over the longer sentence. That’s all it can do.

Even an offender with a mental health problem, especially schizophrenia, will be released sometime after 20 years. No one mentions the danger that can create.

Consider these facts:

“Iowa is hard to beat if you’re looking for a state with a low crime rate and a high quality of life. When it comes to property crime, which includes burglary and vandalism, the Hawkeye State is among the best 10 states in the nation and its incidence of violent crime is also comparably low.”
“Des Moines Police say preliminary data from 2025 shows things are trending in a positive direction when it comes to major crimes.”
Jan 3, 2026 Preliminary 2025 data show fewer homicides and assaults in Des Moines, with police also seizing more guns as leaders look ahead to a full annual report.
“Iowa had the 4th-lowest violent crime rate in the region and the 19th-lowest violent crime rate in the country.”
“Black people were victims of violent crime 4.5 times more often than their share of the Iowa population.”
“Black people were arrested for violent crime 6.6 times more often than their share of the Iowa population.”
“Between 2012 and 2022 in Iowa, the prison population serving sentences for violent offenses decreased by 13%, while the prison population serving sentences for nonviolent offenses increased by 3%.”
“Based on a 2019 calculation of operational capacity, a statistic that determines how many prisoners an institution can safely hold, the most overcrowded prisons were concentrated in the Midwest, with Iowa (119%), Nebraska (115.4%), and Idaho (110.1%) the most overcrowded.” On Jan. 31, 2026, the Iowa Correctional system was overcrowded by 23.52%. “Prison overcrowding leads to severe consequences, including inadequate healthcare, increased violence, and heightened mental health issues among inmates. It also hampers rehabilitation efforts and can result in life-threatening conditions due to poor living environments.”
In 2011, the U. S. Supreme Court case Brown v. Plata held that a court-mandated population limit was necessary to remedy the violation of prisoners' constitutional rights and was authorized by the Prison Litigation Reform Act. “The Federal Bureau of Prisons (BOP) has set 130% as a long-term goal for population levels in the federal prison system.”
“One in five adults or roughly 600,000 Iowans live with some form of mental illness. About 37,000 grapples with serious mental illness daily.”
“Iowa was ranked 51st in the nation for the number of state psychiatric beds, according to the latest report by the Treatment Advocacy Center.”
“Violent crime has been steadily declining overall, down 2.3% in the state year over year. Theft, burglary and robbery are all notably lower in Iowa than in the U.S., too. Property crime has increased 8% year over year but, overall, it’s 25% lower than the national average.”
“A new analysis of 2025 crime data from dozens of U.S. cities found across-the-board decreases in violent crime last year compared with 2019, including 13% fewer shootings, 29% fewer carjackings and 36% fewer robberies. The analysis also found that last year will likely register as the lowest national homicide rate since 1900.”
“No one knows for sure why the rate of violence is down, though some criminologists pointed to efforts over the past few years, including hot-spot policing, summer jobs for youth and cognitive behavioral therapy. Polls suggest that even the public has started to believe that there has been improvement, which is unusual in any era.”