Shreve says Hogsett must appoint public safety director now

Republican mayoral hopeful Jefferson Shreve held a news conference Friday outside the City-County Building. (IBJ photo/Taylor Wooten)

Indianapolis Republican mayoral hopeful Jefferson Shreve is calling on Democratic Mayor Joe Hogsett to appoint a public safety director immediately.

Shreve’s pronouncement came a day after eight separate shootings occurred in Indianapolis, in which three people died and two police officers were injured.

“I call on the mayor to do the right thing and to bring that executive leadership into the public safety director’s office once again for the good of our city,” Shreve said Friday during a news conference outside the City-County Building.

Hogsett eliminated the public safety director post in 2016 during a restructuring that created the Office of Public Health and Safety and eliminated the Department of Public Safety. Shreve said Hogsett broke the string of Indianapolis mayors who had public safety directors since the consolidation of Indianapolis and Marion County government in 1970.

If position were reinstated, Shreve said, the person in the role would be apolitical and able to focus solely on curbing Indianapolis’ crime.

The city has a deputy mayor of public health and safety, who is charged with overseeing the police and fire departments. Shreve said that position is diluted, just as the mayor’s impact on public safety is diluted by other duties.

Shreve’s Republican opponents in the May 2 primary, Abdul-Hakim Shabazz and James W. Jackson, have also said the city needs a public safety director. Hogsett’s main Democratic primary opponent, Robin Shackleford, also supports the reinstatement of the public safety director post.

In a recent interview with IBJ, Hogsett said officers told him in 2014 and 2015 that they were being asked to also be social workers, counselors and mental health providers. The shift away from a public safety director was to provide greater focus on policing needs.

“The Director of Public Safety had authority over Animal Care and Control, 911, EMS,” Hogsett said. “It was inefficient, it was wasteful, and frankly, it meant that IMPD did not report to an elected official.”

Following the shooting of two IMPD officers on Thursday, Hogsett told reporters he intends to push for federal charges in cases of illegal gun selling and ownership, when appropriate.

“I may not have the ability to shut off the faucet of guns that pour into Indianapolis, but I’ll be damned if we aren’t going to do everything we can to identify, to arrest and to punish those participating in this illicit marketplace of death,” Hogsett said.

Shreve has been criticized by the Indiana Democratic Party for having an A-Q rating from the National Rifle Association. Shreve said he is against gun violence and supports IMPD’s efforts. (An A-Q rating is based on a candidate’s questionnaire responses, rather than a voting record.)

“I’m not prepared to advocate to change the lawmaking process that’s done by other people, other elected officers at the other end of Market Street or at the federal level,” said Shreve, who held his first news conference on Thursday since entering the race for mayor on Feb. 3.