Indianapolis plans to hire consultant to investigate skyrocketing use of deadly force

Indianapolis police leaders are promising to bring in outside consultants to help find what is driving the department's skyrocketing use of deadly force.

Of the 15 people Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers have shot in the first 10 months of the year, eight have died. Two men died last week after being shot by officers. In 2022, police shot four people, one fatally. Officers in six additional incidents fired their guns but did not strike anyone.

The spree of deadly force among law enforcement has regularly raised concerns within the Black community, who are repeating their calls for the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate and Chief Randal Taylor to resign. All but one of the people shot by officers so far this year were Black.

No such assessment has been launched, but top brass has acknowledged the unprecedented number.

“It’s not lost on us that having so many in a short period of time, people are asking why,” Asst. Chief Chris Bailey told reporters Thursday night after police fatally shot a man who they say grabbed an officer’s gun, which fired, injuring the officer’s leg inside an east-side Burger King. "We're going to look for some consultants to look at every one of these incidents, take a look at training, take a look at suspect behavior and all those indicators to see if there's any commonality that exists."

It was the second time Bailey had raised the idea of a consultant from the scene of a shooting involving police.

What is going on? Indianapolis police shootings highest in years.

Chief Taylor told IndyStar the goal is to comb through each case to find trends, and whether changes need to be made in the department, such as more police training, or further education among the public, such as promoting more basic firearm safety courses.

"We want to see what's going on," he said. "The goal of the IMPD is to always be better and make sure we give our officers opportunities to be the best they can be through training."

Police leaders have said they cannot definitively say what's causing the rise, but they blame a couple factors, including the growing number of citizens arming themselves and a failure to "listen to officers' commands."

"Unwillingness from people to follow the orders that are given is a big part of the problem," Taylor said.

Increasingly, officers are facing guns fixed with illegal devices that transform a firearm to function like a machine gun. In April, two officers were shot during an exchange of gunfire with a firearms investigation suspect.

Police shootings: Every time Indianapolis police have shot a person so far in 2023

The Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, a community activist group that's been vocal about their dissatisfaction with the city's police department, countered in a statement last week that the number of police shootings this year highlights another issue: mental health response.

The clergy repeated their demands to reform the city's handling of mental health cases after an officer shot a man who, prior to the shooting, made statements about a medical condition and told officers to shoot him while he was in a tree, according to police. One officer opened fire and the man died two days later at the hospital.

“While the community understands that one needs to comply with police commands, this cannot be the baseline for every situation, or all people suffering from a mental illness issue are now subject to being shot by IMPD officers,” the clergy said in a statement.

When asked by IndyStar his thoughts about the consultant, Concerned Clergy President Rev. David Greene Sr. expressed doubts over the effectiveness. The results of an investigation by the DOJ, he argued, would be more widely accepted because it's a neutral party.

“A consultant isn’t going to come in and say, 'Here’s the things you got wrong,' because then they won’t get another contract,” he contended.

At the same time, Greene fervently believes another culprit is behind the uptick in police shootings: Indiana's permitless carry law. Greene argues the law is making officers more fearful of residents because of increased gun ownership.

“I do believe permitless carry triggered this,” Greene said. “I wholeheartedly believe that.”

A study out of Johns Hopkins University last year found a rise of police shootings in states that relaxed gun permit laws.

Researchers at the Baltimore university’s Bloomberg School of Public Health found the average rate of police shootings increased by just shy of 13% from 2014 and 2020 among 10 U.S. states that loosened restrictions for carrying concealed firearms. Some of the studied states required a permit, some did not.

Allowing citizens to carry concealed weapons, the researchers found, may influence law enforcement’s perceived threat of danger and contribute to higher rates of officer shootings.

Joe Hoggsett, Jefferson Shreve respond to shooting, consultant

The prevalence of police shootings in the city this year has remained a talking point among Indianapolis' mayoral candidates for weeks. Incumbent Mayor Joe Hogsett and Republican challenger Jefferson Shreve said they support an outside review, but disagreed on the root of the problem.

"These issues are complicated, important and deserve review. I would support outside review, but I also believe so many of the issues we face with IMPD stem from poor leadership and accountability at the very top," Shreve said in a statement. "Our officers are stressed, and the department is understaffed. We need more police, with better training and tools. It’s not a fiscal issue. It’s a leadership issue. When a team underperforms, the coach gets fired. That’s what needs to happen here. Joe Hogsett can’t get the job done, so it’s time for a change.”

Hogsett pointed to permitless carry and argued an outside review would coincide with other efforts to support officers including investments in transparency, training and "finding ways to get guns out of the hands of those who should not have them."

"Permitless carry has increased the number of incidents in which IMPD must engage with individuals who are armed and not responding to commands, forcing officers to make split-second decisions in dangerous situations," Hogsett said in a statement.

Taylor said the department will consider every funding option before taking on a consultant, including looking into grants or recruiting firms that will do the work pro bono.

Contact reporter Sarah Nelson at 317-503-7514 or sarah.nelson@indystar.com

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indianapolis police plan to evaluate skyrocketing deadly use of force