INDIANAPOLIS--Indianapolis will very likely have another record year for homicides. Indy Metro Police Chief Randal Taylor says people pull the trigger before cops get there, but he believes new tech coming to the department next year will help make a difference.
“We’ll do a pilot with the shots fired type equipment,” he said Wednesday, in an interview with WIBC. “Hopefully get in those areas quick enough where we can save a life if someone has been shot.”
LISTEN: Chief Taylor talks record homicides and what could help
Taylor said the department will also have more license plate reader. But, he said much of what police do is reactionary and happens after a crime has already been committed.
“We have to step in and investigate it and try to get those people off the street,” he said of the perps. “We know some of the bad players in Indianapolis, those people who have shown themselves over and over to commit violent crimes. We do what we can to get them off the street.”
Taylor said much of what is happening in the city is a societal problem.
“I understand where people come from from a standpoint of wanting to blame the police for different aspects of this. In reality, this is a societal issue. The police are not the ones pulling the triggers,” said Taylor.
He said people who are committing the crimes have decided, for whatever reason, that the way to solve their beefs is to use a gun or a knife.
“There’s far better solutions that don’t require anyone to lose their life or anyone to go to prison for an extended period of time because of a choice they made.”
He said home training is lacking in many cases and people should be having conversations about how precious life is.
“Either they’re never taught how precious life is and how we need to respect it or they’ve forgotten about it. Either way, they need to be reminded or taught,” he said.
