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Friday, March 29, 2024

IPS stands up, says ‘No’ (finally) to IMPD takeover of school cops

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Finally, the leadership of the Indianapolis Public Schools stood up for something. They gave a resounding “No” to the scheme of empire building Public Safety Director Frank Straub and his apparently clueless boss Mayor Greg Ballard to wrest control of IPS’ Police Department.

That’s right, IMPD, which can’t get its act together, wanted to control the men and women charged with keeping IPS buildings and the people inside them safe.

It seems the idea for this harebrained scheme came from Straub. Knowing that IPS was strapped for cash, forced to layoff hundreds of teachers and staff, Straub figured IPS could be tempted with the idea of instantly saving millions.

So, Straub and his minions hatched a plan, behind closed doors, to turn over control of the 71-member IPS Police Force to become, presumably, a division of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD).

Under the plan, the city would absorb the additional millions it costs for those 71 IPS officers while IPS would save an equal amount of cash.

What’s bizarre is that Straub concocted a scheme that would add millions in additional expenses to the public safety budget.

I mean Indianapolis seemingly can’t afford to maintain its police force. Can’t afford to hire new officers to replace those retiring. We’re the largest city in the country where law enforcement has no helicopter or aerial tools to take a bite out of crime.

Yet, Straub, the way he’s created a large bureaucracy in the public safety area wanted to add more officers by absorbing IPS police. But not any township school district police.

I’m told a major part of Straub’s argument was that it would be more effective and efficient law enforcement if metro police controlled policing in our public schools. Straub seemingly is enamored with the structure of the NYPD which has a School Safety Agent Division. These are officers who go through NYPD’s training, but are deployed in the city’s hundreds of public schools.

Despite NYPD’s model, many other major big city police departments do not leave school policing to their city’s major police department. In Los Angeles, the LAPD doesn’t handle school policing. That’s done by the Los Angeles Unified School District.

In other big cities, Houston, Philadelphia, Chicago, school policing is done by a force under command and control of the school system.

Mayor Ballard, Straub and the public safety said nothing to our community about this impending change. IPS police officers were well aware of it. When I attended those public hearings on IPS takeovers, several IPS police came up to me expressing their concerns about being taken over by IMPD.

I also suspect what was driving this idea is that it would give a big shot in the arm to the city and IMPD’s diversity efforts which have been non-existent in Mayor Ballard’s term and invisible during Straub’s reign.

See, of the 71 IPS officers, 57 percent are African-American. Adding their numbers to IMPD’s sworn officer ranks would, like the Parks Rangers, not only swell IMPD’s overall number of officers, it would make a big dent in IMPD’s diversity statistics.

In the stroke of a pen, IMPD would go from a department that’s 13.3 percent Black to one that’s 15 percent Black.

But it would be false diversity, since the IPS officers wouldn’t be considered “real” IMPD officers by the rank and file.

In New York, School Safety Agents may wear NYPD Blue, and their shoulder patch may look the same, but they’re not considered the same as the NYPD officers patrolling New York’s mean streets. They’re not even represented by the same union.

Our African-American community must be real leery of a scheme that imports large numbers of African-American police into a unit that makes them “second class” officers, without hope for promotion and advancement into the regular ranks of the IMPD.

Like a lot of what goes on in Indianapolis, the path seemed clear for the scheme’s adoption by the city and IPS. WRTV-Channel 6 ace reporter Rafael Sanchez reported June 10 that, according to Straub, the plan was “on a fast track.”

But somehow last week, the plan was derailed.

On our WTLC-AM (1310) “Afternoons with Amos” program, Concerned Clergy President Rev. C.L. Day said that IPS Superintendent Eugene White told clergy members this past Saturday that the IPS police takeover plan was off the table. That the IPS Board and the superintendent nixed the idea.

Since the city had never formally proposed the scheme to IPS, the board never had it publicly brought before them so they didn’t have to have a public meeting to decide the issue.

A brave IPS Board member braved the wrath of Dr. White and board colleagues and confirmed to me that the board had put the kibosh on the Ballard/Straub scheme.

I’m glad Dr. White and the IPS Board got this decision right.

But this again shows our community the deviousness and scheming that continues to occur in the Ballard administration. From sweetheart deals with contractors that pay thousands in campaign cash, to spending more money than needed on projects that benefit private developers, secrecy and opaqueness is Straub and Ballard’s way of doing business.

What I’m hearing

in the streets

The decision by City-County Councilwoman Joanne Sanders to withdraw as a candidate for re-election could’ve put local Democrats in a precarious position.

Sanders, along with Republican Barbara Malone, was one of just two elected at-large council incumbents running for re-election. Her visibility and 12 years on the council gave Sanders an edge no other council incumbent has.

Democrats were counting on Sanders’ name ID and familiarity to help sweep her Democratic running mates Leroy Robinson, John Barth and Zack Adamson to victory in November.

Now that advantage is gone. Malone has the advantage of incumbency and some name ID and she’s a woman on a GOP ticket with two.

But Pam Hickman, Sanders’ replacement, is a name known within Democratic circles. A great campaigner who nearly won in 2007. She can raise money, she’s not afraid to campaign and generate excitement for the ticket.

A good choice.

See ‘ya next week.

You can e-mail comments to Amos Brown at acbrown@aol.com.

 

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