The Gary Police Department plans to implement recommendations from its Citizens’ Advisory Commission — including new use of force protocols and body cameras for patrol officers — in 2022.
Mayor Jerome Prince announced the recommendations Dec. 15 after more than a year of work by the commission and said the city stands prepared to move forward to bring the proposals to fruition.
“Today is a very important day for us and the city of Gary,” Prince said. “I am extremely proud of the Gary Police Department and the vast majority of men and women devoted to keeping the city safe, and making the community an even better place to live.”
The advisory commission was formed by Prince in the wake of the murder of George Floyd in Minnesota in 2020 and has been working since then, meeting bimonthly to go over police department practices and come up with recommendations.
Among the recommendations are changes to the use of force standard operation procedure, the additional of body cameras for patrol officers and a focus and understanding of the mental health component of police work.
“We have already had progress on a number of those recommendations,” Prince said.
Police Chief Brian Evans laid out a timeline for implementation of some of the recommendations.
“We are very pleased by the police reform commission’s recommendations. We must realize it is not a quick fix,” Evans said.
He said the department will be adopting new language prohibiting excessive or unwanted force and conduct unbecoming in the first four to six months of 2022. Stun guns will be mandated for all officers on patrol. The department has had stun guns for more than seven years.
This summer the department purchased the latest model and recently began distributing them. Evans expects all of patrol to have the new stun guns by the end of the first quarter. The department also has a new virtual reality training helmet that allows officers to train on nonlethal ways to deal with people.
The duty to intervene report will also be complete within the first four to six months of the new year.
Evans said mandating body cameras is something the department has wanted to do for a long time but he cannot put a timeline on implementation due to the financial component.
The chief said he does not want the department to criminalize things like homelessness and drug addiction, but instead work to direct those people to the services that may help them.
Joy Holiday, chair of the commission, said the chief component of improving the relationship between the community and law enforcement is the ongoing analysis of police department interactions with the community. She said members of the commission participated in an abbreviated citizens’ academy to familiar themselves with the department’s internal structure.
She said key areas of interest to come out of the committee were accountability, use of force de-escalation, building community trust, prioritizing crisis intervention training and data collections and transparency among others. Ongoing evaluation of the data and police interactions will help improve trust and accountability.
Prince said the city has identified potential resources to fund the purchase of the body cameras. He said by the end of the first quarter, those cameras should be in place. He will be looking at the police department budget as well as the administration budget to find funding opportunities for the resources needed.
“Oftentimes police work is thought to be something that is strictly punitive. We see it differently. We see it as a collaborative relationship that serves to enhance not only the overall public safety of the city, but just the quality of life,” Prince said.
Carrie Napoleon is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.
