Indiana Blog Review

Drastic Action

Indy Undercover is reporting a rumor that Indianapolis law enforcement officers might face a total ban on moonlighting, a tremendous loss of supplementary income for many LEO's.

You Tubed

via FWOb, and then via Fetchy, we come across a blog by Fort Wayne Detective Everett D. White, who caught some local buglars on YouTube.

I think this sort of thing is going to happen more and more often.

Uncrossed Notifications

Fort Wayne Observed:

I was the author of the original Crime Victims Notification Act.  This was the Indiana statute which requires the Indiana Department of Corrections to notify victims of certain violent crimes when the offender is released from prison or has escaped from custody.

The late Betty Jane Spencer, the sole survivor of the Hollandsburg murders, took on the cause of passage of the bill as her own.

So, it is with interest I am reading of the case of Danny Rouse, who was arrested in the stabbing death of 16 year-old Stephanie Wagner just a few counties west of here.  Mr. Rouse had been convicted in the Kansas murder of a young boy 27 years ago. That boy would be 32 years old tody if he had not been murdered by Danny Rouse.

Mr. Rouse served 25 years in prison in Kansas for that murder and for the brutalization of the boy's mother.  He was then paroled by Kansas authorities and came to live in Indiana with his brother and sister-in-law.

Not even the Sheriff of Cass County knew that Mr. Rouse was in his community.

I Knew You Were Going to Post That

Dan Noland at the Indiana Skeptics blog takes a look at a recent training session held for police ooficers in the Greenfield area by . . . The Amazing Kreskin!

Indy Uncovered

The real Joe Friday, coming October 1st.

Calling All Cars

Indy Undercover:

According to our sources MECA is currently under investigation by IOSHA as a result of complaints filed against our well-known can-and-string radio system.

Officer Under Fire

Indy Undercover reports that Marion County Democratic Party Chairman Ed Treacy is targeting City-County Councilor for District 12 Sherron Franklin (D) for being insufficiently partisan.

The perks of mismanagement

[Indy Undercover] has found out there’s trouble brewing in the Marion County Information Services Agency. Apparently there are some “questionable” activities concerning its spending of taxpayer money and its Application Development contract negotiations. Not to bore you with details (hopefully some enterprising reporter out there will follow up), but a number of employees (about 10) recently took a trip to San Diego, CA, at $2,000 a head, to attend a conference held by Accela, a computer company. Apparently someone wants the city to spend $3 million on a computer system that may not be compatible with the city’s needs for its permit and inspection management activities. Does this sound familiar?

Book Review

Steph Mineart reviews a new book, Our Town: A Heartland Lynching, a Haunted Town, and the Hidden History of White America
by Cynthia Carr.

Jail Rumoring

Indy Undercover:

According to our sources assaults on correction officers are on the rise under the Anderson administration. And in an effort to cover up these increases Anderson has decided to only investigated and tracked these incidents based on what occurred in the jail itself. To hide the increased numbers Frank has combined these numbers with those occurring at the Marion County Jail 2 and the APC. By doing so he dilutes the true number of occurances and hides his total lack of concern for the officers who are charged bringing order to disorder.

It is also reported that under Anderson, Corrections Officers are afraid to use physical force to subdue violent inmates. Not only Will Anderson fire the corrections officer, but will seek charges of battery on the corrections officer. Anderson will not allow corrections officers to place inmates in lock down for disruptive behavior.

Crime and (No) Punishment

Matt Tully on August 9th:  "[T]he bipartisan group has largely put partisan politics aside in order to deal with jail crowding and rising crime.  Nice to see, isn't it?"

And on August 14th: "Mark this down as the day that things got rough in the campaign for Marion County prosecutor."

RiShawn Biddle shines a light on yet another of the seemingly endless factors contributing to crime:

But the quality of life problem, including rising crime, is also the consequences of a culture that gives vagrants permission to soil the public space that everyone shares and trespass on private property, that to which they have no right at all.

Mark Rutherford castigates, "several ministers of the Indianapolis clergy that are calling for more money to be thrown into proven ineffective programs."

Taking Down Words shares some personal reflections.

braingirl bemoans, "Contrary to what the media would tell you, this crime wave isn't new. It's been going on all year, seemingly ignored."  And she looks at some root causes.

MORE:  Fix Indy Now, "I am not an expert on the causes of crime, or the reasons behind behavior. However, on WIBC today it is reported that the IPS budget will be cut again. "

Crime in Indy

Fix Indy Now, on City-County Councilor Monroe Gray's insight into jail overcrowding:

So, he gets the jail overcrowding issue and the problems we are having with crime. But, he thinks the sewer system was really more important?!? He thinks that fixing the septic system was a bigger deal and he simply voted for more jail beds because that is what people wanted.

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz:

The thought that there are 130 people sitting behind bars waiting processing, while the Judge is on vacation is offensive! And who knows who else is going free? By the way June 2006 was the second highest month of early releases from the jail on record, to the tune of 477 inmates. Something is fundamentally wrong here that more beds will not solve, but more organization must . . .

I have no idea whose bright idea it was to establish Monroe Gray as the head of the Indianapolis City-County Council, but they have to be regretting that decision by now. Gray demonstrated his mastery of corrections and public policy Monday afternoon by declaring (during a meeting of the Criminal Justice Planning Council abut the record early releases from the County Jail) that "more jail beds is not the answer...but jobs and housing."

. . . I could tell Mayor Bart Peterson was getting frustrated by Gray's inane questions, specifically with crime at an all time high . . .

Meanwhile, Abdul also found a video on YouTube of downtown Indy during the 2006 Indiana Black Expo (warning: very family unfreindly).

More Injustice

RiShawn Biddle brings us yet another case from the Juvenile Injustice Files of Marion County:

Why was Shawn even in juvenile court? This is just one of the questions being raised by public defender Patricia McMath in the 8-year-old's case, now before the state Court of Appeals. And it should be the central question that everyone, including those working in the juvenile justice system, should be asking themselves.

No Good Kids

Advance Indiana, on the blight of downtown Indy:

WTHR-TV had an alarming report about the rise in violent attacks being committed on downtown patrons by loitering teen-age hoods. Mall security bounces them out at 9:00 p.m. every night, whereupon they begin preying on innocent downtown patrons . . .

Mayor Peterson and IPD better figure out how to get a handle on this right away. There are certain times that I simply won't go to Circle Centre Mall anymore, namely Friday and Saturday nights, because these thugs are menacing all over the mall, often deliberately bumping into you with hard pushes. This kind of activity has completely destroyed Cincinnati's downtown. If people don't feel safe going downtown, they will flock to restaurants and shopping malls in the suburbs. The City has made too much of an investment in downtown Indy to let these low-lives destroy it.

Jail Update

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz notes:

A few things to over the weekend to note. The same people who grilled Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi this past week over his plan to fight jail overcrowding have all found Jesus and come out in support of more jail beds. With friends like these, Melina Kennedy, the Democratic Candidate doesn't need enemies.

Speaking of which, I spoke to some top Democrats over the weekend who say they are concerned about how the experience issue is going to impact the prosecutor's race. They say Kennedy's lack of experience will hurt her in this race, particularly when crime is at an all-time high.

In addition, there's talk that there's as much as $3 million in the Marion County Sheriff's Jail commissary fund. Expect that to come under some scrutiny as officials look for ways to pay for public safety.

Advance Indiana on the Democratic reprise on jail overcrowding:

Kennedy released a press statement today calling for a long-term, comprehensive approach to jail over-crowding, which will cost $3.5 million. She wants to hire more prosecutors, public defenders and establish a night court--all ideas previously suggested by Brizzi.

Politicizing Crime

Last night's Marion County Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee meeting was an outrage for at least two bloggers.

Advance Indiana:

Based on the discussion at tonight's meeting, it was clear Democrats were looking for any reason or excuse to kill the proposal simply because it might benefit Brizzi's re-election efforts. Committee Chairwoman Mary Moriarty Adams' strident partisanship and disrespect to Brizzi was a disgrace . . . Democrat committee members seemed to pretend the problem had already been dealt with. Their questions to Brizzi were more focused on trying to blame his office for the problem rather than looking for a solution to the problem . . .

Where's Sheriff Anderson? He should be at the forefront in trying to solve this problem, but he seems to be missing in action.

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz:

As you know I am not a partisan. I do not believe in right and left, I believe in right and wrong.  I am also not prone to hyperbole when it comes to issues of public safety. But last night the Democrats on the Public Safety committee politically gang-banged the Marion County Prosecutor all to enhance the stature of his opponent. Allow me to explain . . .

And Ironic Headline of the Day: "Democrats support Brizzi jail proposal"

Crime and Punishment?

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz has more thoughts on crime & politics in Marion County.  Looks as if Mayor Bart Peterson is displeased with Monroe Gray.

Juvenile Gaol

RiShawn Biddle, responding to criticisms of the Indy Star's editorial series on juvenile justice in Marion County:

As editorial writers, we are charged with calling them as we see it and explaining why you should give a rat's tail about it. This often means blunt writing instead of gracious language because the issues are too important for the latter. This offends those who are being criticized; after all, everyone wants to they are good people serving the interests of all mankind, even when it's not exactly so. But we're not here to please people, just to make them think and react.

More problems at the ICJI

Taking Down Words:

From the looks of the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute's media page, the agency appointed a chief financial officer on July 6. Apparently, they're borrowing current Department of Correction CFO Joseph Fistrovich for the job.

If the rumor mill is right, it would appear that Fistrovich will have to answer some pretty big questions when he steps into the job on July 17.

Namely, why did ICJI allow a little more than $1 million in victim compensation money to revert back to the state at the end of the fiscal year?

Crime News

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz:

I just got my hands on some recent raw crime data. The picture is not good. I knew crime was getting out of control in Indianapolis, but I didn't think it was that bad.

DJ and Dash

Great, there's a crime wave in Indy, and the Marion County prosecutor's race is going to get bogged down over a couple of moronic DJs.

Public Service

Doug Masson:

I have prepared a draft memorandum on the subject of the new service of process fee the Sheriff is required to collect under IC 33-37-5-15(a) of $13 “from a party requesting service of a writ, an order, a process, a notice, a tax warrant, or any other paper completed by the sheriff.”

Ewww

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz reports:

The man accused of murdering seven people last month in Marion County was apparently caught smoking marijuana in his jail cell, but he will not be charged with drug possession.

According to a jail incident report obtained by WXNT News (i.e. me), on June 8 a corrections officer smelled marijuana coming from Desmond Turner's cell. When the guard approached the cell, Turner bent over his bunk as if her were trying to hide something, according to the report.

The report also says the officer asked Turner what he was hiding, he replied "not a damn thing." As the officer called for assistance Turner flushed the drugs down the toilet . . .

You have to ask yourself a couple questions. WHo was mindng the store on this one and where the hell did Turner get the light? I feel safe. More to come, stay tuned.

Corrupt Files Found

RiShawn Biddle pulls out two unfortunate cases from the "juvenile injustice files," for Lacy and Samuel.

Policing the Parks

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz gives us an update, "City officials tell me they have made their first "bust" under the new sex offender ordinance."

Hot Pursuit

Doug Masson:

The Supreme Court decided that law enforcement immunity doesn’t apply to police officers operating an emergency vehicle chasing a criminal who cause injury to a third party. They did so because they found that the duty to operate an emergency vehicle with “due regard” for the safety of all persons under IC 9-21-1-8 negates the law enforcement immunity conferred by the legislature under IC 34-13-3-3(8).

So, the Supreme Court ruled contrary to my suggestion of how the case should be decided. But the Court’s opinions do not address my argument, so I don’t know where I went wrong. I wonder if the defendants raised a similar argument.

Serving Youth, Youth Serving

On the heels of the Indianapolis Star's expose of Marion County's dysfunctional juvenile justice system, Advance Indiana notes how much of the problem could be laid at the feet of Judge James Payne - and how the proposed reforms would have to be implemented by him as well.

Taking Down Words complains that the Star gave Payne a pass.

RiShawn Biddle responds forcefully to the criticism.

Unenforceable

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz drops a bomb:

I've never been a big fan of unenforceable laws. I think they are a waste of time and money. One law I tend to put into that category is the ordinance passed by the Indianapolis City County Council that fines sex offenders who come near parks and playgrounds. The measure had bi-partisan support, but just because everyone votes for something doesn't make it a good idea . . .

Now since IPD and the Marion County Sheriff's Departments have to deal with double digit increases in crime I don't think they'll have time to hang out in the parks and write tickets. That job, you would think, would go to the park rangers. You might want to think again . . .

You read correctly, the head of the park district told me, on the record and with full knowledge of who I was and what I was doing, told me it was not the job of the park district to enforce the ordinance to ticket sex offenders who come near parks or playgrounds. He told me it was the job of other local law enforcement.

Wynn later went on to tell me that they also were not planning to go door to door to check and see who were sex offenders living near the parks and who weren't. "We are not in the sex offender business" were his exact words . . .

Now City attorney Kobi Wright has agreed to come on my radio program Monday morning at 7:20 and explain to me exactly where I may be confused. But when the head of the Park District tells me that his agency is "not in the sex offender business" things seem pretty clear to me.

Should be an interesting conversation.

Update:  More double talk.

The North Hamilton Massacre

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz has some really good analysis of the political fallout from the 7 murders.

And you should also check out the most inept escape since King Louis XVI.

More Woes for Heather

Abdul Hakim-Shabazz delves further into the Inspector General's report on L'Affair Bolejack.

You Gotta Play to Lose

Leo Morris on gambling, "The state has squandered its moral authority over gambling, and has no credibility in lecturing us about any issue of law and punishment."

Bolin' the Jack

Sorry about not blogging on this earlier.  I was busy playing cards.

• Major kudos to TDW for a stunning find in the Indianapolis Star.  Also, a news round-up.
• Advance Indiana says her problems are deepening.
• And on her allegations that she's been charged with OMAWB (Operating a Major Agency While Black): Indiana Barrister, Advance Indiana, and Torpor Indy.

Incredible

Advance Indiana, "when is the last time you can remember hearing about anything the Indiana Civil Rights Commission did?"

Crime in Indy

RiShawn Biddle summarize:

The latest IPD crime statistics, this for the first month of 2006, doesn't exactly bear good news for either Mayor Peterson, Sheriff Frank Anderson or IPD Chief Michael Spears. And it's a reminder that the Circle City's streets aren't getting any safer . . .

All this bad news is made worse by the fact that IPD's clearance rate, or number of cases solved, isn't rising.

Indianapolitans Don't Kill People . . .

. . . Chicagoans do?

Entropy Manor has a problem with the Indianapolis Star's story on gun crime.

Sex offender registry updated

Kemplog reports that the state has updated its online list of sex offenders.

The new site will include internet maps of offenders: www.indianasheriffs.org. And just for the extra-paranoid:

 

Another new feature to be administered by the attorney general’s office will allow program users to register for e-mail notification when registered sex offenders move nearby. That function is expected to be active soon. Attorney General Steve Carter said that would give people one more layer of protection.

No honor among criminals

In an ironic twist, criminals are preying on Indiana's sex offenders.  Advance Indiana reports that thieves are using the list to steal identities of registered sex offenders.

This should not come as a surprise to anyone. When Indiana's sex offender registry first became available on the internet, the social security numbers of each of the registered sex offenders was published along with their names. Zachary's Law, Indiana's law requiring the registration of sex offenders, requires that the registrant's furnish their social security numbers, along with their current address. Apparently, somebody figured out this might become a problem and removed the social security numbers from the sex offender registry site, but obviously that action did not come soon enough.

Deliberate Chaos adds:

While it's sad whenever someone is violated, whether physically or financially, it seems that there is some sort of strange karma at work here. I have to admit that I'd feel a lot worse if it was some average innocent citizen who was being taken advantage of by a criminal, rather than two sets of predators.

It's just another sign that we need to eliminate the social security number as the ultimate identification number for everything a person might do.

Cops are robbers

Two Munster, Indiana police officers were busted for stealing their late chief's antique sword, reports Deliberate Chaos.

A probable cause affidavit states that Sgt. Douglas Simpson took the sword and give it to Officer Jeffery Huckaby. Huckaby listed the sword for sale on eBay, but Indiana State Police officers obtained the sword before it was shipped to a purchaser, reports the Post-Tribune.

Indy police merger vote tonight

Tracy Warner reminds us that there is another vote in Indianapolis City-County chambers tonight: the police merger.  If approved, could it start a new trend?

I wonder if the counties with one big city like Indy, Fort Wayne and Evansville will someday contemplate giving the countywide duties of road patrol, responding to crimes and detective work to city police while having the sheriff's department focus on running the jail, serving warrants and Courthouse security.

Driver's permits for undocumented workers proposed

East Chicago's state senator, John Aguilera, proposes issuing special driver's permits to undocumented workers, reports Deliberate Chaos.

Since many people are out on Indiana's roads without insurance and licenses, anything that encourages people to obtain insurance and learn the rules of the road is a good idea. Not granting special driver's permits won't stop people from driving as they do now. Our roads will be safer if driver's permits are issued.

We're No. 2!

Indiana is number 2 behind Missouri in discovered meth labs.

"Not good," writes E. Thomas Kemp at Kemplog.

My guess? The main ingredient, anhydrous ammonia, is plentiful in farming states like Indiana, so, since we can make it here, we do.

What's your major?

The State Police drop a long time requirement for officers to have attended 60 hours of college in a effort to muster more recruits. Fort Wayne Observed asks: Does a college education make an officer more professional?

Need a Job?

Tracy Warner: State police lowers standards

Malfeasance...with Benefits

Tracy Warner posts on a sordid tale in Anderson.

Smackdown?

Indiana Parley: Leo Morris swats Indy Star managing editor

ALSO: Star does something right

Sheriff's Bonus

Tracy Warner uses tax amnesty to talk about his problem with the state allowing local sheriffs to keep a percentage of delinquent taxes his or her department collects.

Court: Fee Requirement Violates 14th Amendment

Indiana Law Blog: Requirement to pay for pretrial diversions decided by Court of Appeals today

Peterson Struggling

The Dogwood Files on Matthew Tully's column on Mayor Bart Peterson from Tuesday's Indy Star.

PREVIOUSLY: Other blogger reaction to Tully's column and Peterson's failed police consolidation

Not Enough Money

Kemplog on how budget woes affect a Richmond policing program focused on patrolling I-70.

Republican Rule

Tracy Warner:

How long have Republicans controlled the sheriff's office [in Allen County]? Lyn Winchell of The [Fort Wayne Journal Gazette's] library staff researched old issues and found the answer: The last Democrat was elected in 1936.

Police Merger Roundup

Lots of reaction to the failure of the Indy police merger, and this Indy Star column by Matt Tully on the subject.  At Taking Down Words, readers were so anxious to comment that they did so on a post completely unrelated to the story.  Now they're doing it on a more "official" post.

MORE: Dogwood Files, RiShawn Biddle, Indiana Politico, Paul Musgrave, Jim Shella
 

God Against Consolidation

Indiana Politico on the vote against the police consolidation plan in Indianapolis:

[...]the swing voter Sherron Franklin voted against the plan partly because she wanted the Mayor to be in control instead.

And partly because God told her to vote that way. Or so she told WISH-TV news in an interview late tonight when I should have been in bed.

If God really cares about Indianapolis mergers and spoke to Ms. Franklin in order to accomplish his omniscient will in our city, fine. But couldn't he have given her a better reason to vote 'no'? Where in the Bible does it say 'Thou shalt not place power with an elected official; the righteous shall instead entrust appointed officials with control of their uniformed officers"?

MORE: Reaction to the vote

Consolidation Voted Down

Advance Indiana reports:

The much anticipated vote at tonight's Indianapolis City-County Council for the consolidation of the Marion County Sheriff's Department and the Indianapolis Police Department fell one vote short on a vote of 15-14 against. All Republican council members voted against the measure, along with a lone Democrat, Sherron Franklin, an IPD police officer.

REACTION: Dogwood Files, RiShawn Biddle, Indiana Politico

Slow Down!

Deliberate Chaos:

I knew a guy who used to work at the Indiana State Prison.

He said certain counties in Indiana had a reputation for capturing fugitives and criminals on the run. The guy said his inmates were always nabbed speeding through Kosciuosko or Jasper counties for speeding. U.S. 30 near Warsaw is infamous for dropping from 60 MPH to 45 MPH.

I heard a similar story from a friend from Gary who said that she and her companions once were stopped after leaving I-65 someplace south of Lake County. Don't speed in those smaller counties where not too much is going on! Especially if you aren't from around those parts.

ALSO: Deliberate Chaos on the federal campaign finance restrictions that, "threatens bloggers' abilities to speak out on political issues."