'Legacy of selfless service': Former Indianapolis police chief, Marion County sheriff dies

Jake Allen, Indianapolis Star
·2 min read
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Joseph McAtee
Joseph McAtee

Joseph McAtee, a former Indianapolis Police Department chief and Marion County sheriff, has died.

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department announced the death of the longtime law enforcement officer on Saturday evening. McAtee was 89 years old, according to his obituary.

“He was a class act,” said IMPD Chief Randal Taylor. “He treated people really well. This is a man who was committed to law enforcement for a long time.”

McAtee was sheriff when Taylor first sworn into the Marion County Sheriff’s Office in 1993. As he moved up the ranks, Taylor got to know McAtee better.

McAtee first worked for the Indianapolis Police Department, then was sheriff for two terms with the county’s sheriff’s office. After that, he worked as a constable in the city.

“Between the police department, the sheriff's office and his work as a constable, I'm sure that was close to 50 years,” Taylor said. “You just don't see that kind of commitment anymore. He was a good man. We all leave at some point, but he did it right."

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In 1972, McAtee was honored with a group of officers at the Indianapolis Police Department for clearing 100% of the city’s homicides from that year, according to an IMPD Facebook post.

He was the only person to serve as both the Indianapolis chief of police and Marion County sheriff, according to the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police.

“Few individuals have done as much to keep our community safe as Joe McAtee,” Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said in a statement. “He leaves a legacy of selfless service as sheriff, police chief, and constable; and a grateful community for his decades of leadership.”

Contact Jake Allen at jake.allen@indystar.com. Follow him on Twitter @Jake_Allen19.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Former Indianapolis police chief, Marion County sheriff dies