INDIANAPOLIS – Two Indianapolis City-County Councilors want to add civilians to the city’s General Orders Committee, which determines the procedures Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers use on a day-to-day basis.
Democratic councilors Keith Potts, District 2, and Crista Carlino, District 6, held a press conference Thursday to discuss their proposal, which will be formally introduced in the August City-County Council meeting.
“In order for our law enforcement partners to do their jobs and protect us as citizens, we have to rebuild that trust between our community and the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department,” Carlino said. “That lack of trust, we believe is a root cause of violence in our city.”
Currently, the committee is made up of three people – two appointed by the IMPD chief and one by the Fraternal Order of Police. The committee gets the say on any new procedures IMPD implements.
It’s unclear how the proposal would add civilians to the committee, or how many would be added. The councilors said those details haven’t been worked out yet.
“We are proposing it is time to put the voice of the public back in public safety and Indianapolis public policy,” Carlino said.
IMPD Chief Randal Taylor said Thursday he hadn’t had a chance to learn about the proposal and couldn’t comment further.
