Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee

Indianapolis City-County Council

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Wednesday, Sept. 11, 2024
5:30 p.m. — 7:30 p.m. EDT

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200 East Washington Street Indianapolis, IN 46204 (Directions)

City-County Building, Public Assembly Room (PAR)

The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee of the City-County Council oversees the public safety agencies of the City and County. Those agencies include the Marion Superior and Civil Courts, fire and police agencies, emergency communication, forensic services, coroner, prosecutor, and public defender.

Current Committee members:

Leroy Robinson, D-District 1, chair
Paul Annee, R-District 22
Josh Bain, R-District 21
Dan Boots, D-District 3
Crista Carlino, D-District 11, vice chair
Brienne Delaney, D-District 2
Keith Graves, D-District 9
Michael Paul-Hart, R-District 20
Frank Mascari, D-District 19
Jessica McCormick, D-District 16
Brian Mowery, R-District 25
Carlos Perkins, D-District 6

Find the meetings live streamed here: http://indianapolis.granicus.com/ViewPublisher.php?view_id=3

Questions? Email us at documenters@mirrorindy.org

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Reporting

Edited and summarized by the Indianapolis - IN Documenters Team

Live reporting by Randy Wyrick

Budget hearings for the Indianapolis Fire Department and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, IMPD will increase their budget by $13.9 million

randy51722 @randyrecoil

I'm Randy Wyrick and I'll be live tweeting the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee meeting. @mirrorindy @indydocumenters

04:37 PM Sep 11, 2024 CDT

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The chairman called the meeting to order at 5:30 p.m.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Before launching into budget hearings for the Indianapolis Fire Department and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, the Public Safety Committee made three personnel appointments:

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters They reappointed Wendy Tucker to the Early Intervention Planning Council.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters They appointed Lindsay Stawick to the Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team reviews deaths resulting from domestic violence in Marion County and in the State of Indiana. The Domestic Violence Fatality Review Team works under the supervision of the Marion County Coroner.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The committee appointed Raymond Casanova as the Marion County Chief Public Defender. He was previously the Public Defender Chief Trial Attorney. Casanova will replace former Chief Public Defender Robert Hill.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The Marion County Public Defender Agency provides legal representation for Marion County citizens who cannot afford to hire their own lawyer, generally for criminal cases.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Casanova has been with the Public Defender Office for 30 years.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Committee members questioned him about the starting salaries of public defenders compared to the prosecutors office. Casanova said they were on parity.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters "I want this to be a career path," Casanova told the committee members.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters He said there are three keys to that: Recruiting, pay parity with other agencies, and professional development opportunities, which means training attorneys to handle more difficult and complex cases.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The Public Defenders Office is fiercely independent, Casanova said. That means attorneys need not fear backlash when handling sensitive cases.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Robert Hill was with the agency since the early 1980s. He's retiring.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Agency board member Jimmy McMillan told the committee that Casanova topped a talented field of applicants, including several in-house candidates.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The committee voted unanimously to appoint Casanova.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Indianapolis Fire Chief launched into the department's budget presentation.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The IFD has 294 firefighters on duty while the budget was being presented.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters IFD has 1318 total staff. 73 in administration. More than 90 percent are on the street.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters IFD’s service area is 285 square miles covered by 44 fire stations.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters IFD has 103 pieces of equipment ready to go all the time.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters There are 30,000 fire departments around the country. IFD has been accredited at the highest international standards. 99.6 percent of the nation’s fire departments do not meet that standard.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The IFD budget is $258.7 million.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Like everyone else, the IFD's insurance rates are going up.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The average IFD staffer has more than 16 years of experience.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Normal attrition means they'll need to hire more than 60 new firefighters in the relatively near future.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters IFD did a social media survey asking about people's satisfaction with their service. More than 150 people completed the three page survey.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters IFD has seen 8 injuries in the last week or two, all serious but not life threatening.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters "We want people to know not just what our firefighters do, but what they're willing to do," Chief Ernest Malone told the committee.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters IFD replaces equipment and front-line apparatus on a rotating basis every 10 years. The 2025 budget request includes that replacement program.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters After 10 years, front-line apparatus go into reserve for another five years. After that, maintaining the equipment becomes cost prohibitive, Chief Malone said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The IFD took their leave and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police took the pdium.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Chief Christopher Bailey noted the irony of presenting their budget proposal on the 23rd anniversary of 9/11, a day when "heroes were running toward danger while others were running toward safety," Bailey said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters He addressed some officer misconduct and said the officers involved have been disciplined.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters "Our department upholds the highest standards of professional conduct," Bailey said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Crime in 2024 is down 24 percent over the previous year.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Murders are also down, Bailey said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters In the last year they have taken 10,500 people into emergency custody, getting them mental and emotional health instead of taking them into custody.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Bailey said officers often do not get the credit they deserve.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters He urged people dealing with emotional or mental health crises to dial 988 instead of 911.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The IMPD 2025 budget will include cost-of-living increases.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Right now they have the smallest number of officers with 1,464 on staff right now. They're recruiting actively.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Homicides are down 8 percent.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Shootings are down 10 percent.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Business robberies are down 50 percent. That's helped with the technology installed recently that help identify people and groups that victimize businesses. Those groups and individuals tend to be the same, and police work and technology accounts for that decrease.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Their proposed 2025 budget is $337.8 million, up $13.9 million from the 2024 budget.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters While shootings and homicides are down, homicides and shootings disproportionately impact persons of color. 70-80 percent are in the African American community.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The 2025 budget will cover 1,743 officers and another 7 professional staff employees.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Bailey urged anyone interested in serving with the IMPD should go to . impd.indy.gov

impd.indy.gov

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters The budget includes improved body camera and car cameras.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Every community that slashed the number of officers has paid a price, Bailey said. Those communities are clawing back.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters While they're understaffed, as are many other cities, they're filling the shifts with overtime.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters They'll spend around $20 million in overtime this year.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters They would rather not spend the money that way, Bailey said. That much overtime means officers tend to be overworked and in danger of burnout.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Councilor Paul Anee lauded the IMPD and Chief Bailey, pointing out that Indianapolis could not host the sorts of national and international events it does without police officers. The one thing you see at every event is cops, Anee said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Speaking of staffing, Boston has more than 650,000 with 2,000 cops, as a comparison, Bailey said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Regarding reckless driving, things like running red lights and spinning and running from police, a city ordinance might be coming that could enable police to impound vehicles for up to a year. That could be enhanced by license plate readers and speed cameras.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters State law could soon make that possible.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters IMPD has no interest in any revenue from traffic tickets, Bailey said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Camera in construction zones are already here.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Speaking of staffing, IMPD spent almost $1 million advertising for open positions and offering bonuses. It didn't work, Bailey said.

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@mirrorindy @indydocumenters Chairman Leroy Robinson adjourned the meeting a8:01 p.m.

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Attachments

The Set. 9 City County Council agenda

By Randy Wyrick 1 week ago

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Agency Information

Indianapolis City-County Council

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The Indianapolis City-County Council is the legislative branch of our local government. In addition to adopting budgets, levying taxes, and authorizing financial appropriations to fund city and county operations, the council is responsible for enacting, repealing, and amending local laws. The Council appoints members to boards and commissions that serve the community, and all meetings are open to the public.

Council members