Protestors issue demands to City of Carmel, CPD

A group of protestors in Carmel conducted a peaceful demonstration titled “Sit-in against Racial Injustice” on Sunday in downtown Carmel.

The event was organized by three Carmel teens, Ashten Spilker, Breanna Hargrove and Kayla Spencer after a Black Lives Matter sign was vandalized in Spilker’s yard.

During the two-hour long protest, organizers issued demands for change to the city and its police department. Those demands were published on the website change.org, which listed the following statement to Mayor Brainard and Carmel Police Chief Jim Barlow. It also provides area residents an opportunity to sign a petition supporting the group’s demands:

The following was published on change.org:

“The issue of racial profiling and discrimination in the Carmel Police Department (CPD) is both long-standing and disturbing.  

• According to a WISH TV I-Team 8 investigation of 11 police departments in central Indiana, Carmel had the largest disparities between tickets issued to black people and to white people. 
• Black people make up only 2.5 percent of Carmel’s population, but account for more than 33 percent of the traffic tickets.
• A separate USA Today investigation of the Carmel PD found blacks are more than six times as likely to be arrested as others, the fifth-highest racial disparity in Indiana. (Carmel had a higher racial disparity in arrests than the notorious city of Ferguson, MO).

But change will not occur on its own.  We are calling upon the entire Carmel community to support the fight for justice and equality, for as Dr. King stated, “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” By signing this petition and supporting the reforms outlined below, you will become a leader in this movement and part of the solution.

Here is a breakdown of the Comprehensive Police Reforms the CPD Needs to Adopt:

• Review and Revise the CPD “Use of Force” Policy Including (But Not Limited To): 

• Prohibition of the use of chokeholds, hogtying or any other method of restraint that can cut off the supply of oxygen to the brain.
• Prohibition of the use of force against individuals who verbally confront an officer or are handcuffed or otherwise restrained.
• All use of firearms, including drawing of a weapon, should be reported and immediately investigated

• Mandatory & Periodic Implicit Bias, Cultural Awareness, and De-escalation Training for ALL Carmel Law Enforcement Officials
• Review and Revise the CPD Definition of Profiling and Ban the Use of Profiling in All Law Enforcement Activities

• The profiling ban must apply to all discretionary decisions by law enforcement, including decisions to stop, investigate, question, search, arrest, respond to a call for service, seize property, initiate asset forfeiture, or charge an individual with a crime.

• Prohibition of Pretextual Stops and Consent Searches
• Establishment of Civilian Oversight Boards with Representation of Those Communities Disproportionately Impacted by Policing in Carmel
• Complete Collection and Transparency of Policing Data That Is Easily Accessible to Civilian Oversight Boards and All Carmel Residents

• CPD should be required to collect, analyze, and regularly make public aggregate, anonymous data about the race, ethnicity, age, and gender of people who are stopped, searched, frisked, arrested, as well as uses of force. CPD should be required to also document the basis and outcome of any search conducted.
• Exception: Only if a person voluntarily provides information regarding their sexual orientation, gender identity, or immigration status, may officers record that information.
• Collection of data on hate crimes and hate incidents and complaints of sexual misconduct by officers
• Support for the Open Records Act and the assurance that officer misconduct information and disciplinary histories are not shielded from the public. Rectification of credentials may be denied to officers with disciplinary histories.
• Accountability for CPD officers who display racially inclined patterns of ticketing.
• All supervisors and officers must be trained to detect, manage, and report profiling and discriminatory policing. The Civilian Oversight Board must be able to hold officers and the department accountable.

• Additional Community Policing Reforms

• Involving community members and representatives of those groups disproportionately targeted in the development of policies and in the creation and delivery of trainings & the establishment of formal structures for community input
• Recruiting, retaining, and promoting applicants from historically underrepresented groups

• Ban Evaluations Based on Number of Arrests as well as Decouple Revenue from Arrests
• Development of a Long Term Plan to Divert Some Funding from Law Enforcement to Community-Based and Racial Justice Initiatives

Here is a breakdown of the demands for the City of Carmel to make it a more inclusive place for ALL its residents and visitors:

• Curriculum: Black history should not be confined to a single month. Make it a required part of the curriculum that students are taught about important people of color all year round.
• Hire people of color and bring guest speakers into schools to be role models for students.
• Ensure that people of color have access to cultural opportunities at school, utilizing outside help if needed.
• When instances of discrimination are encountered in Carmel schools, we demand that the instances are thoroughly investigated and dealt with appropriately.
• Call on Mayor Brainard to meet with a diverse panel of Carmel residents quarterly on how he can work to make Carmel a more inclusive city.
• We would like Mayor Brainard to kick-start a project to make Carmel more accepting of people of color. We believe Carmel should give off an accepting feel and this can start by representing people of color in the statues on Main Street.”

Barlow issues statement outlining CPD’s commitment to excellence

Carmel Police Chief Jim Barlow issued the following statement following the Sunday’s sit-in:

Barlow

The Carmel Police Department (CPD) is committed to excellence in policing. I understand the anger that is being felt across the nation at the unjustified death of George Floyd.

Reason tells us that not all police departments are trained and guided in the same way and therefore, the public will see differences in policing from agency to agency. It is disappointing to witness the loss in faith that many have expressed in their policing agencies. The majority of these men and women serving the public safety do so with dedication and respect.

Citizens deserve a highly professional and respectful law enforcement agency committed to keeping all residents, businesses and visitors in the community safe.

CPD believes and practices transparency and accountability and promotes the core values of Honesty, Compassion, Honor, Integrity, Loyalty and Professionalism.

We strive for those things by doing the following:

(This list is not intended to include all of our initiatives, but those carrying the most impact toward core beliefs.)

• Membership and accreditation by The Commission of Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) – this means that our policies, procedures and operations are based on a high level of professional standards. CALEA is governed by a board comprised of public sector and private sector professionals along with law enforcement representation.
• CALEA works closely with their founding organizations to provide a wide input: International Association of Chiefs of Police, National Sheriff’s Association, National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives, and Police Executive Research Forum. Re-accreditation occurs every three years.
• Publish Annual Report and Use of Force Analysis
• In 2019, only 23 of 2,705 detention-related incidents required use of force. 236 of these were immediate health detentions; mental health calls where there is probable cause to believe the person is a danger to themselves or others.
• CPD trains in the use of de-escalation to avoid use of force whenever possible
• Training sessions throughout the year focus on mental and physical reactions to scenarios to better ensure officers to provide variety of options or useful interventions in effort to avoid use of force
• In-car cameras have been used for more than 20- years
• Body cam use began 2019
• Recruit minorities to increase diversity
• Offer Citizens and Teen Police Academies to educate and engage the community
• School Resource Officer program – officers assigned to all schools to build trust and understanding

CPD is always willing to have a meaningful conversation about how to best serve our community and keep all safe. Our shared goals of keeping the whole community safe is an ongoing one that will take all of us working together.