INDIANAPOLIS – Mayor Joe Hogsett recently announced a series of planned changes to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s Use of Force Policy.
In 2016, IMPD updated the agency’s use of forrce policy. The announced changes came about from the department’s Use of Force Review Board. IMPD Chief Randal Taylor submitted a new draft use of force policy to the IMPD General Orders Committee.
The proposed changes come on the heels of days of protests triggered by the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis on May 25, who died as a result of a police officer kneeling on his neck for more than eight minutes, assisted by three other officers. The ordeal was filmed and Floyd can clearly be seen struggling and begging for his life. Later, Floyd died. The police officers responsible for his death were fired from the Minneapolis Police Department and one was arrested, charged with second-degree murder and the other three for aiding and abetting the crime. Floyd was buried in his home town of Houston, Texas, on June 9.
The proposed new IMPD Use of Force Policy seeks to:
1. Create clear standard for use of deadly force.
2. Update the requirement for identification and warning before deadly force.
3. While IMPD training does not consider chokeholds an appropriate technique, the proposed Use of Force Police explicitly prohibits the use of this tactic.
4. Outline clearly defined de-escalation requirements.
5. Define an officer’s duty to intervene and report when another officer uses inappropriate force.
6. Prohibit shooting into moving vehicles or shooting from a moving vehicle.
7. Require comprehensive reporting of lethal and non-lethal uses of force.
8. Clearly specify rules for using various levels of less-lethal force.
The General Orders Committee will review the draft Use of Force Policy mid-June. Once approved, all officers will be able to review the amended policy utilizing the department’s digital training tool. Beginning July 6th, IMPD will start training officers on the new policy. This process should take 2-3 weeks. These changes will be further reinforced as officers go out to the firing range for their annual training, beginning in August 2020.
Additionally, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced that he has asked the Civilian Police Merit Board to conduct an analysis and review of IMPD’s existing progressive discipline policy.
The Mayor also outlined his intention to propose additional funding for the expansion of the city’s Group Violence Intervention strategy as part of the 2021 budget process.
Earlier this year, the City announce a rollout of body-worn cameras for all IMPD officers.