Prince focuses on successful police reforms, COVID response as he closes his term as Gary Mayor

Outgoing Gary Mayor Jerome Prince says he has no regrets looking back at his four years at the city’s helm.

His administration weathered a pandemic pushing through an agenda aimed at reimagining what the city could be in an effort to clean up the streets, improve public safety and spur economic development.

“I feel great. I feel humbled and certainly honored to have had the opportunity to serve in what is the highest office in municipal government,” Prince said.

His departure from office — and at this time no intention to run for another elected position — caps a 25-year political career that began in the very same place, Gary City Hall, when he was first elected to serve as a Gary city councilman. Prince went on to serve on the Lake County Council and then as the Lake County Assessor, where he was the first Black elected county assessor in the state.

Instead of running for reelection, Prince made his successful run for mayor, defeating two-term incumbent Karen Freeman-Wilson for the spot. It was the defeat of a well-liked Freeman-Wilson that handed Prince a hostile council when he took office January 2020.

Deputy Mayor Trent McCain said seven of the nine incoming council members had supported the former mayor. Prince said that while he anticipated some pushback or a lack of cooperation coming in but was optimistic a working relationship could be forged.

“I certainly attempted to work with that body,” Prince said. :That dynamic was clear very early on — I think at the first meeting — that was not going to be the case. Although that made things more challenging, it certainly did not stop our ability to move forward,” Prince said.

Councilman Ronald Brewer, D-At Large, acknowledged the relationship between the council and the mayor in the beginning was pretty rough as both sides engaged in a standoff for too long. He said the COVID-19 pandemic did not help since officials were forced to work away from each other instead of face to face.

“Personally, I think myself and the mayor started developing a good working relationship. I regret it not happening sooner,” Brewer said.

Still, the administration was able to get things done including $10 million worth of road paving over the course of two years in which a lot of the city’s main streets were tackled.

“The way they pulled those dollars together to make sure that happened and we didn’t have to borrow any money, I thought that was good on the administration’s part,” Brewer said.

Brewer also lauded the work to reform the city’s police code through 17 ordinances presented to the council. The body ultimately passed 16 of the measures, including an ordinance that transfers the hiring process from the police commission to the police chief.

Brewer said the police department conducted two police academy classes in 2023 and was preparing for a third under now former Chief Anthony Titus. He was uncertain at this time what the course of action would be under new Police Chief Derrick Cannon Sr. One of the biggest challenges the police department has faced is filling its ranks. Putting hiring under the purview of the chief was an effort to improve the situation.

Police reforms ongoing

Indeed, Prince said his proudest accomplishment was the work the administration and city were able to do with the Indiana State Police and the Gary Police Department. Prince said he came into office with the goal of improving public safety, improving interactions with constituents and shoring up the city’s finances.

“The work with the state police I think yielded some pretty relevant outcomes for the city and for the police department itself to be sure and for those folks who even think about or consider coming to Gary … safety is always a concern. We wanted to do more than just appear to be safe. We wanted the satisfaction of knowing we had made it safer,” Prince said.

McCain said crime overall in the city is down this year, but more importantly the clearance rate for the crimes that have been committed have improved.

“That’s where the ISP partnership has really shown its benefit. The new Lake County Prosecutors Metro Homicide Unit is kicking butt and taking names,” McCain said, adding the homicide unit has executed dozens of search warrants and arrest warrants and have closed a lot of cases.

“That’s what is really important. It sends a message to criminals we are going to get you,” McCain said.

The greatest indicator that the moves made at the police department were a step in the right direction comes from the feedback and response from the officers themselves, Prince said.

“A majority of the officers certainly embraced the changes,” he said.

Prince said early in his administration — before he even began solidifying the plan for the police department — officers were coming forward with their ideas on what needed to be changed.

The public safety building is old, and moving forward a replacement should be considered, but until that day, he said they tried to improve the facility as best as possible to help boost morale. Some changes were as simple as painting and changing where roll call is conducted.

Officers were brought out of the dark and damp basement upstairs where they can have some dignity and pride about being part of the department before they go about their shifts, Prince said.

Indiana State Police Superintendent Douglas Carter described working with Prince as a pleasure and is hopeful the reforms enacted under his administration remain in place. It was the first of the three efforts to come to fruition.

“If they lose momentum with what was done internally, the external effects will be enormous,” Carter said. The perception of safety drives economic development. “The focal point moving forward has got to be on the police department.”

Carter said the ISP offered options on structure, policy, process and accountability.

“If you lose any one of those, the house of cards will fall,” Carter said. He has met with incoming Mayor Eddie Melton and is hopeful that relationship will continue.

“We did everything we could possibly do in Gary in 18 months,” Carter said. Recreating the work of the partnership and what brought the city and ISP together at that specific time would take decades to recreate, he said.

He described the partnership, which had the backing of Gov. Eric Holcomb, as one of the most important projects the ISP has undertaken and “certainly one of the most important I have done as a leader in our profession. None of it would have happened without the courage of the mayor,” Carter said.

“I do think (Interim Chief) Jerry Williams left a legacy up there and at least an architectural model for success,” Carter said, adding the ISP will continue to support the city. “I’m still all in, whatever the city might need. Just because we left, we are not away.”

Governing during the COVID-19 pandemic

Prince attributes much of his administration’s successes the salient advice of the people he surrounded himself with including McCain, whom he had known since childhood but reconnected with upon his election; his health commissioner Dr. Roland Walker; and Chief of Staff Joy Holiday, who he said excelled beyond any expectation. Holiday will remain in Melton’s administration.

“These things all factored into whatever successes we were able to accomplish,” Prince said.

While some accomplishments are tangible — repeated citywide cleanup initiatives, new needed equipment for general services and police, and visible development in some areas — others are more abstract such as perception.

“There’s so much to do in the city, right, they tell me often to just relish in the things we were able to accomplish and be proud of it,” Prince said, something he finds difficult to do. “I came in with the goal of really moving and pushing the city forward.”

Getting things accomplished would become more challenging after he was elected. Just 79 days after he took office, the country shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, changing the way government operates. He said navigating the worldwide pandemic was an important accomplishment for his administration but it did impact the amount of work done.

“Once government opened back up, it seemed like we could never recapture the momentum and energy we came into office with,” Prince said. People got accustomed to working off site, a dynamic that required a degree of management to which they were not accustomed, he said.

Still, Gary led Lake County when it came to COVID-19 response. It was the first community to come out with a mask mandate, as well as the first to close its offices and transition to remote work. Prince said he worked with Chicago business owner Willie Wilson to receive 10,000 hard-to-find masks for distribution to the public for free, and partnered with various organizations to keep a flow of sustenance available to community members through various food donation programs.

‘It’s such an unbelievable challenge ...”

Jim Wieser, chairman of the Lake County Democratic Committee, said he has known Prince since his time on the Gary City Council when he brought development projects before the panel for his work as an attorney.

“He’s always trying to do the right thing for his community,” Wieser said.

“I feel a real sense of loss because of his institutional knowledge and his background. He’ll always give you an honest assessment of what he thinks about a given issue. I’ll miss that candor,” Wieser said. He plans to discuss with Prince his plans for the future and if there may be a chance he sees a place for himself in Lake County politics.

Wieser said Prince had a successful political career largely outside of the precinct committee organization. He took over as the city’s party chair upon being elected mayor. It was a position with which he was comfortable as Prince attended at least 90% of the city and town chairman meeting to give his perspective, Wieser said.

“I can’t think of a tougher elected official position certainly in the state of Indiana than being the mayor of the city of Gary. It’s such an unbelievable challenge … He did some good things. I know he worked hard at it,” Wieser said.

Moving forward Prince said he has registered his own consulting firm, JAP & Associates LLC and will be using his experience in office to help people and businesses with property tax assessment issues. He will also be looking at ways to help government entities incorporate new technologies to improve their efficiency.

Prince said he has not completely ruled out a return to public life if the right position and circumstances were to arise. He would like to toss his hat in the ring for the president and CEO position at the South Shore Convention and Visitors Authority. In the meantime, he will be building his business and spending more time with his family.

“Leaving office I don’t have any complaints. We did exactly what set out to do,” Prince said.