The Fishers Police Merit Commission was taken on a tour of the new headquarters building Wednesday morning. The facility is nearing completion. Chief Ed Gebhart told commission members the new structure should handle the department’s needs for at least the next 20 years. The move across Municipal Drive should begin in about three weeks, Gebhart said.
The chief provided a number of updates, the biggest one being the hiring process. New officers from Colorado and Arizona are set to join the force. Both candidates found Fishers and applied. Other job offers have been made to officers currently working in Zionsville, Anderson and Muncie.
“We are full-up currently,” Gebhart told the commission. “(Those) are all our positions for 2018.”
Gebhart unveiled a new badge for Fishers Police officers. Gebhart said the officers wanted to do this. The previous badge was designed like the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) badge.
There was no mention of the previous Police Chief Mitch Thompson until late in the formal meeting. Thompson stepped down from the chief’s position after charges were filed against him related to an accident south of 96th Street and Keystone Avenue last month. The charges include OWI, endangering a person, and operating a vehicle with a blood alcohol level of .08 or more.
Although he is no longer chief, Thompson is reserving the right to return to the Fishers Police Department in another role, if approved. Police officials cannot begin to look at the administrative issues until the criminal charges pending against Thompson are resolved. The matter could come before the Merit Commission in the future.
Two Merit Commission members raised the issue about the status of former Chief Thompson as the formal meeting was ending, but before any comments could be made, City Attorney Chris Greisl stopped the discussion, saying he would address a memo related to the Thomson matter, raised by a Merit Commission member, but not in a public meeting.