INDIANAPOLIS – The Fraternal Order of Police wants leaders to do more about violence that continues to happen in Indianapolis.
The head of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Chief Bryan Roach, will retire from the department at the end of 2019. And now the FOP has a list of demands for the new chief.
The FOP says that while every city has violence, it’s surging in Indianapolis. In the last 26 days, 61 people have been shot, 18 killed and 15 have been stabbed.
It’s that level of violence that the FOP wants the new chief to address first, plus a change in infrastructure and a strong community policing plan which will encourage residents to come forward.
“We have a juvenile system that, unfortunately in Marion County, is a joke,” according to FOP President Rick Snyder. “By the end of this year, we stand the chance of having the highest record number of murders in five consecutive years and having the highest number ever in the history of our city.”
Synder said young people become repeat offenders when they fall into a troubled path and see no consequences, which he says transitions to adulthood and an increase of violent crimes are committed between the age of 18 and 24.
He also says the new IMPD chief should push the courts and prosecutors to eliminate low bonds.
“There’s a reluctance, especially among leaders in the community, to really acknowledge some of the true significant contributors, such as that broken “catch and release” system of criminal justice. In Marion County alone, we have multiple felonies that involve violence in which suspects of those crimes get an automatic $500 cash bond and they’re right back out on the street,” said Snyder.
The FOP wants to work with Mayor Hogsett on selecting the new chief of IMPD.
The mayor’s office says they’ll be meeting with IMPD executive staff and community stakeholders over the coming weeks, and an announcement will follow those conversations.
(PHOTO: WISH-TV)
