Black Legislative Caucus Offers Cautious Embrace of Holcomb Racial Equity Initiative

(EAST CHICAGO, Ind.) — Governor Holcomb’s racial equity initiative is getting a cautious embrace from the Indiana Black Legislative Caucus.

The caucus of 13 House and Senate Democrats praises Holcomb for adopting its call for State Police

body cameras, and for commissioning an outside review of police training on use of force and unconscious bias. The caucus also supports Holcomb’s pledge to work with legislators on reducing jail overcrowding and adding civilians to a police review board — both measures, along with body cameras, were part of a comprehensive justice reform plan the caucus laid out last year.

The caucus says Holcomb could have taken some immediate, more concrete actions, with bans on

chokeholds, no-knock warrants and racial profiling. The group says the proposals Holcomb did announce strike the right tone, but there needs to be followup. And several members recall how Holcomb’s support for a hate crime law turned into a bill they consider too general, after resistance from Senate Republicans, though Holcomb has maintained the final version has been unfairly criticized. Gary Senator Eddie Melton says, “I have learned to not hold my breath when working with the Republican supermajority.”

But East Chicago Representative Earl Harris Jr. says the caucus has been talking with police and

prosecutors, and says the national revulsion at the deaths of George Floyd and Breonna Taylor has

changed the dynamic. He says reform proposals from law enforcement line up with the IBLC’s

proposals.

And Harris says it’s significant that Holcomb recognized a link between justice reform and breaking down educational and economic racial disparities. He says ensuring that all Hoosiers have equal opportunity to escape poverty will help address issues cross the board.

Harris says Holcomb’s creation of a new Cabinet officer in charge of equity, inclusion and opportunity has the potential to make a difference, but says that person needs to have real power to dissolve racial barriers, not just a title. He says the caucus wants input on who’s selected for the post.

Attorney general nominee Jonathan Weinzapfel applauds Holcomb’s address as a good first step, and

notes he instituted police body cameras as mayor of Evansville. But Holcomb’s reelection opponent

Woody Myers offered just six words on the plan: “much too little, much too late.”