Indiana House Passes Bill to Create Military Police Force
STATEHOUSE — The Indiana House passed a bill that would give the governor the power to establish a military police force within the Indiana National Guard without the consent of local elected officials.
House Bill 1343 passed mostly along party lines by a vote of 67 to 29. State Rep. Danny Lopez of Carmel was the only Republican to join all Democrats in voting against the bill.
If passed, the bill allows Gov. Mike Braun the authority to send a paramilitary police force into any part of the state whenever he deems it necessary.
Supporters of HB 1343 say it gives the state more flexibility during emergencies. Opponents to the bill, including State Rep. Matt Pierce (D-Bloomington), argue that it grants the governor too much power.
“We can see now that the door is open for the governor to behave just like President Trump and decide to deploy this military police unit to communities that he doesn’t like,” Rep. Pierce said Wednesday while at the Statehouse.
Pierce compared the idea that’s been proposed by Indiana House Republicans to the operations conducted by federal immigration officials across the country.
“It looks a lot like what ICE is doing,” he said. “All you have to do is see what’s happening in Minnesota. When you bring in these external militarized police forces, you end up with tragedies.”
Aside from a possible power grab and undermining local control, Rep. Pierce is also worried that members of this military police group would not be receiving the highest level of training for civilian work.
“If you’re going to do it, at a minimum, you should ensure the maximum level of training, because what we’ve seen with ICE is those people clearly have not been properly trained,” said Pierce.
The bill states that members of this police force would be trained to military police standards. The Adjutant General of the National Guard would decide how they would be trained in civilian law enforcement.
HB 1343 now heads to the Indiana Senate.
