Iowa Admin. Code r. 501-2.1 - General requirements for law enforcement officers
In no case shall any person hereafter be selected or appointed as a law enforcement officer unless the person:
(1) Is a citizen of the United States and a
resident of Iowa or intends to become a resident upon being employed; provided
that the state residency requirement under this subrule shall not apply to
employees of a city or county that has adopted an ordinance to allow employees
of the city or county to reside in another state and shall not apply to an
employee of a city or county that later repeals such an ordinance if the
employee resides in another state at the time of the repeal. A city or county
that has adopted an ordinance to allow the employees of the city or county to
reside in another state shall provide a current copy of the ordinance to the
Iowa law enforcement academy. Railway special agents who are approved by the
commissioner of public safety as special agents of the department shall be
exempt from the Iowa residency requirement.
(2) Is 18 years of age at the time of
appointment.
(3) Has a valid
driver's or chauffeur's license issued by the state of Iowa. Railway special
agents who are approved by the commissioner of public safety as special agents
of the department and officers who are allowed to reside in an adjacent state
shall be required to possess a valid driver's or chauffeur's license of the
state of residence of the officer.
(4) Is not addicted to drugs or
alcohol.
(5) Is of good moral
character as determined by a thorough background investigation including a
fingerprint search conducted on local, state and national fingerprint files and
has not been convicted of a felony or a crime involving moral turpitude. "Moral
turpitude" is defined as an act of baseness, vileness, or depravity in the
private and social duties which a person owes to another person or to society
in general, contrary to the accepted and customary rule of right and duty
between person and person. Moral turpitude is conduct that is contrary to
justice, honesty or good morals.
a. The
following nonexclusive list of acts has been found by the Iowa law enforcement
academy council to involve moral turpitude:
(1) Any felony. As used in this section, the
word "felony" means any offense punishable in the jurisdiction where it
occurred by imprisonment for a term exceeding one year, but does not include
any offense, other than an offense involving a firearm or explosive, classified
as a misdemeanor under the laws of the state and punishable by a term of
imprisonment of two years or less.
(2) A misdemeanor crime of domestic violence
as defined by Iowa Code section 724.26(2)
"c," or other
offenses of domestic violence.
(3)
An adjudication of delinquency as a juvenile based on conduct that would
constitute a felony if committed by an adult.
(4) Assault or harassment.
(5) Stalking.
(6) Any offense in which a weapon was used in
the commission.
(7) Income tax
evasion.
(8) Perjury or its
subornation.
(9) Theft, aggravated
theft, fraudulent practices, robbery or burglary.
(10) Any sex crime or crime listed in Iowa
Code chapter 709.
(11) Conspiracy
or solicitation to commit a crime listed in this rule.
(12) Defrauding the government.
(13) Delivering, manufacturing or possessing
with the intent to deliver or manufacture a controlled substance.
(14) Convictions by any other state or by the
federal government under statutes substantially corresponding to the crimes
listed in this rule.
(15) Any crime
as an adult that resulted in the requirement of being listed on a sex offender
registry.
(16) An adjudication of
delinquency as a juvenile based on conduct that would constitute a crime as an
adult that resulted in the requirement of being listed on a sex offender
registry.
b. In
determining whether to grant a waiver of subrule 2.1(5) under rule
501-16.3 (17A,80B), the council shall consider in its analysis of numbered
paragraph "4" of rule 501-16.3 (17A,80B):
(1)
The nature and seriousness of the crime;
(2) The time elapsed since the crime was
committed;
(3) The degree of
rehabilitation which has taken place since the crime was committed;
(4) The likelihood that the person will
commit the same crime again;
(5)
The number of criminal convictions; and
(6) Such additional factors as may in a
particular case demonstrate mitigating circumstances or heightened risk to
public safety.
(6) Has successfully passed a physical test
adopted by the Iowa law enforcement academy.
(7) Is not by reason of conscience or belief
opposed to the use of force, when necessary to fulfill that person's
duties.
(8) Is a high school
graduate with a diploma, or possesses a GED equivalency certificate.
(9) Has an uncorrected vision of not less
than 20/100 in both eyes, corrected to 20/20, and has color vision consistent
with the occupational demands of law enforcement.
a. Passing any of the following color vision
tests indicates that the applicant has color vision abilities consistent with
the occupational demands of law enforcement:
(1) Pseudoisochromatic plates tests such as
but not limited to: Tokyo Medical College, Ishihara, Standard
Pseudoisochromatic Plates, Dvorine, American Optical HRR Plates, American
Optical.
(2) Panel tests such as:
Farnsworth Dichotomous D-15 Test or any other test designed and documented to
identify extreme anomalous trichromatic, dichromatic or monochromatic color
vision.
b. Color
corrective lenses may not be used by an applicant during the testing process
pursuant to the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine
(ACOEM) Guidance for the Medical Evaluation of Law Enforcement
Officers.
c. Individuals with
extreme anomalous trichromatism or monochromasy color vision, as determined
through testing, are not eligible to be hired as law enforcement officers in
the state of Iowa.
(10)
Meets hearing standards as outlined below.
a.
The person shall have normal hearing in each ear. Hearing is considered normal
when, tested by an audiometer, hearing sensitivity thresholds are within 25dB
measured at 500Hz, 1000Hz, 2000Hz and 3000Hz averaged together.
b. If the person does not have normal hearing
as described above and any of the following (as recommended by the American
Academy of Otolaryngology) conditions exist, a medical specialist's evaluation
(otologic evaluation) is required in order for the candidate to be considered
for hire:
(1) Average hearing level at 500Hz,
1000Hz, 2000Hz, and 3000Hz greater than 25dB, in either ear.
(2) Difference in average hearing level
between the better and poorer ear of:
1. More
than 15dB at 500Hz, 1000Hz, and 2000Hz, or
2. More than 30dB at 3000Hz, 4000Hz, and
6000Hz.
(3) History of
ear pain; drainage; dizziness; severe persistent tinnitus; sudden, fluctuating,
or rapidly progressive hearing loss; or a feeling of fullness or discomfort in
one or both ears within the preceding 12 months.
(4) Cerumen accumulation sufficient to
completely obstruct the view of the tympanic membrane or a foreign body in the
ear canal.
(5) Use of a hearing
aid.
c. Functional
hearing evaluation required. Issues of reversibility and prognosis should be
addressed during the otologic evaluation. The evaluation should consist of
directional speech comprehension in noise and speech comprehension in quiet
using the High Intensity Noise Test (HINT) or other tests that meet the
performance characteristics as outlined in paragraph "d."
Candidates who perform more poorly than the fifth percentile of the normal
hearing group under any of the three background noise conditions (noise in
front, right, or left) are not eligible for hire. Candidates with quiet
thresholds greater than 28dB(A) on the HINT or other tests that meet the
performance characteristics as outlined in paragraph "d" are
not eligible for hire.
d. Required
performance testing characteristics include the following:
(1) Testing is available in both headphone
and sound field versions.
(2) The
testing has an adequate normal hearing control group.
(3) The testing is capable of spatial
separation between the speech and the noise source.
(4) The testing uses adaptive testing
techniques.
(5) The testing uses a
stationary background noise with the same average level across frequencies as
the speech.
e. Use of a
hearing aid. A candidate who uses a hearing aid(s) should be administered the
HINT or other tests that meet the performance characteristics as outlined in
paragraph "d" to assess speech comprehension ability in noise
and quiet. Both tests must be administered by sound field methods rather than
headphones. An aided audiogram can be reviewed to evaluate sound detection
ability.
Before functional testing, the examining physician must ensure that the aid(s) has been worn regularly for at least one month, since it takes some practice before an individual obtains the maximum benefit from the hearing aid(s). Furthermore, the examining physician should obtain all records from the audiologist who dispensed the hearing aid(s). The records must include documentation of the fitting program and other hearing aid settings, which are used on a regular basis by the candidate. This information shall be reviewed by the certified audiologist performing the testing procedure to verify that the settings have not been intentionally altered.
The following protocol must be used. No modifications to the candidate's hearing aid program or settings should be made prior to or during the performance of this protocol.
(1)
Evaluate whether the hearing aid(s) is working properly. The electroacoustic
response characteristics of each hearing aid worn by the candidate should be
measured in an appropriate acoustic coupler and test chamber according to ANSI
specifications (ANSI 1992 and 1996). The response of the hearing aid(s) should
be measured at the four designated input levels with a broadband test signal,
as specified in the specifications. All measurements should be printed and
retained in the candidate's records. If the hearing aid(s) is not in proper
working condition, no further testing should be performed at that time. The
candidate may elect to have the hearing aid(s) repaired or replaced and may
return to repeat the protocol. In this event, the entire protocol, including
measurements of the electroacoustic response characteristics of the hearing
aid(s), should be repeated with the new or repaired hearing aid(s). Hearing aid
sales, repairs, and replacements should be from an independent provider other
than the provider of the functional assessment services.
(2) Review the candidate's regular fitting
program and settings. The fitting program and settings should be equivalent to
those measured according to subparagraph (1). If they are not equivalent, no
further testing should be performed at that time.
(3) Determine whether the functional gain is
both physiologic and appropriate for the candidate's hearing loss. Unaided and
aided binaural sound field thresholds should be measured at 250Hz, 500Hz,
1000Hz, 2000Hz, 3000Hz, 4000Hz, and 6000Hz, using warble tone stimuli presented
from a loudspeaker positioned 1 meter in front of the candidate at 0 degrees
azimuth. If the functional gain is not physiologic and appropriate, then no
further testing should be performed at that time.
(4) Perform aided sound field HINT or other
approved testing in noise and quiet. Compare the results to the site-specific
normal values for sound field noise front, noise right, and noise left
conditions. If the measured thresholds are better than the fifth percentile
under all three conditions, then the noise testing shall be repeated with the
background noise fixed at 80dB(A). The same normative values used with the
standard background noise levels may be used to assign percentile scores to
these results.
The examining physician may use the evaluation algorithm described in Hearing Guidelines-Abnormal Audiogram, with one exception. Many present-day hearing aids employ methods of sound processing that vary as a function of the background noise level, and it is necessary to measure aided sound field HINT thresholds through a range of background noise levels. Therefore, candidates who use hearing aid(s) should be functionally normal both under standard HINT background noise levels (i.e., 65dB) and at levels that are commonly encountered in the field (80dB).
The candidate has met the required hiring standards if the candidate has demonstrated acceptable functional ability when wearing a hearing aid(s) and wears a hearing aid(s) when assigned to field duty.
(11) Is examined by a
licensed physician or surgeon and meets the physical requirements necessary to
fulfill the responsibilities of a law enforcement officer.
(12) Has not been previously decertified in
another jurisdiction.
(13) Has not
committed any act that could result in decertification under 501-Chapter
6.
Notes
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