Thread by @jordanupdike, Alright. So I just walked out of tonight's @IndyCouncil Public Safety meeting, [...]

Alright. So I just walked out of tonight's @IndyCouncil Public Safety meeting, and whooooo boy do I have thoughts.

Story time.

I didn't plan to show up tonight, but I was sitting down to sip a @GarfieldBrewery beer on my porch when I heard my councilor @MascariF say “This talk of defunding or reallocation is mind-boggling."

If my councilor isn't going to represent me, I'll go represent myself, dammit.

I took the 10 minute ride up the @IndyCouncil building and observed what I can only describe as a laughable disconnect between community concerns and IMPD.

Guys. @IMPD_Chief either doesn't know WTF is happening in his department, or he is choosing to willfully ignore it.

Councilor @ethanevans4indy was the first councilor I've seen publicly ask about @IMPDnews targeting medics/medical supplies. @IMPD_Chief simultaneously claimed he wasn't aware of the situation AND that the supplies were unattended, which of course the video shows they weren't.

@IMPD_Chief then stated he would not be investigating the situation or reviewing evidence.

Literally, a 'see no evil' defense.

@ethanevans4indy didn't press him further.

When another commenter described the gas canister models IMPD used and pointed out they were at least 3 years expired, @IMPD_Chief claimed he wasn't aware of any evidence. Several people in the crowd held up their phones saying they had pictures. The evidence wasn't reviewed.

@MrWildstyle got up and in a heartfelt tone asked why IMPD should get more money when they don't make his own community safer. The chief appeared to take his comment seriously, but in my view seems totally unaware how armed officers could present a danger to the black community.

When my turn came, I got up to say what my councilor won't say on my behalf: that I DO want to reimagine public safety here in Indianapolis.

I'm just going to leave my comment here:

Councilors, my name is Jordan Updike.

I grew up in Broad Ripple, and I currently live in Garfield Park.

I have two things for you tonight, so I'll speak quickly:

Councilor @KeithLGraves asked tonight if there was overlap between military and IMPD tactics, and as an uninvolved observer of IMPD tactics on Friday May 29, I’m here to tell you that an 18 year old in Iraq has better trigger discipline than I saw from IMPD that night;

that the military hasn’t been allowed to use chemical agents against civilians or soldiers since World War I.

That the targeting of medics and stealing of supplies this chief condoned on camera June 5 have been ruled unethical in war for far longer.

That tactics outlawed in war are hardly ethical for policing a community. From my uninvolved view, @IMPDnews started escalating the situation from the moment they showed up in riot gear in early afternoon to the moment they targeted medics and stole from them.

I’d like to know why this council won’t publicly condemn these tactics, and why the chief just claimed ignorance to this council about actions on video, why he refuses to investigate multiple reports of targeting medics, and why he thinks it OK to steal from + gas his residents.

The chief isn’t aware of IMPD targeting medics? I’ve got video evidence, as do several in the crowd tonight. But we can’t make a complaint because there is no citizen oversight, and those complaints would get handed to the very chief who just claimed the behavior was acceptable.

I’m here right now because I was sitting at home listening to my councilor, @MascariF call the idea of reallocating IMPD funds “mind-boggling,” and I came here to tell him to his face that he is not only dead wrong, but that his dismissive comments don’t represent me at all.

Frank took the time this summer to find my cell phone number and ask me to stop mentioning him on twitter. Seriously. We talked for almost an hour, and I had to beg him to listen to my observation of IMPD’s escalation on May 29.

I told him about a recurring issue I had in June with a neighbor's mentally ill brother; a situation that needed multiple interventions to resolve but NOT ONCE needed an armed officer to show up.

In fact, my training and advanced education as a mental health professional tells me that the very presence of a uniformed and weaponized officer creates significantly more danger for citizens, particularly those in vulnerable communities.

I told Frank it didn't make sense the only available MCAT (mental health) officer in my area works 9-5/M-F, you know, when mental health issues happen.

I told him the issue w/my neighbor's brother could've been solved the very first time w/appropriate resources for the guy.

His comment tonight wholly ignore this constituent's story and concerns.

Councilor @MascariF said tonight his constituents want police officers to show up at their house when you make a phone call.

Well I don’t, Frank.

An armed man with less training than an Indiana barber rarely contributes to my safety, or the safety of my black brothers and sisters.

They don't prevent crimes. They rarely solve them.

@MascariF, I want an administrator to show up for an administrative issue.

I want a traffic officer for a traffic issue.

I want a mental health professional to show up for a mental issue.

I want citizen oversight of a department that commands 1/3 of the city budget but appears wholly incapable of providing for the safety of Indy residents...and in fact is often endangering them.

I’m all for first responders with appropriate training to show up quickly when needed, but it's clear that IMPD is currently wholly unequipped to fulfill these roles.

And I want @MascariF to stop misrepresenting his constituents’ desire for a wholly new approach to public safety.

Reimaging public safety isn't mind-boggling.

What's mind-boggling is expecting @IMPDnews to behave differently with more money.

Thank you, @LeroyRobinsonD1.

If you'd like to know what @MascariF thought of my public comment, this is a pretty good summation:

I've asked @MascariF at 3 times to ask @IMPD_Chief why he's condoning targeting medics and supplies.

He hasn't, and his comment makes clear he won't.

If he's not going to address the situation, then I will.

In my conversation with him, in his public comments, and in his lack of questions for @IMPDnews, @MascariF has made very clear that he thinks the current system is working just fine.

I'm not ok with that.

I want a councilor who's committed to building a public safety system that works for Indianapolis.

I want a councilor who -if he won't reminagine the system as a whole - will at minimum work for citizen oversight of this department.

@MascariF's public response, by the way, was to claim that he'd "followed up on the gentleman's concerns about expired tear gas canisters" ...which of course, wasn't my concern. He confused me with one of the previous speakers.

*Brief callback to the look on @MascariF's face when he made this statement.*

Look, I just want an @IndyCouncil and a mayor who aren't going to keep dumping 1/3 of the city budget into a department the FOP daily admits is wholly unable to manage the city's public safety issues.

I just want an imaginative councilor representing me and pushing for a system which advocates appropriately trained first-responders to public safety needs instead of sending armed officers who get less training hours than an Indiana barber.

I just want the ability for residents to say "Hey, maybe we can all agree we should hold officers to the same standards as an 18 year old in Iraq."

Like, seriously. There is 0 citizen oversight of IMPD.

Until @Carlino4Council and @kp4indy's proposal for the General Orders Committee gets approved, the only tools we have is keeping police misconduct and lack of oversight in the public eye and demand better.

Usually, you'd hope for your councilor to represent your views and hold bad behavior to account.

But since my councilor @MascariF thinks reimaging public safety and reallocating funds to appropriate first responders is "mind-boggling," I'm gonna keep demanding better.

I'm way past my bedtime, but I leave you with this:

The FOP is where all the power is, and they have an interest in fighting citizen oversight.

The @IndyCouncil has a supermajority of D councilors who COULD reimagine public safety designed to, you know, keep citizens safe.

Indy leaders love to look back at when Bill Hudnut built the Hoosier Dome with no guarantee of the @Colts and it turned into a win for the city.

That's the sort of risk-taking the @IndyCouncil and @IndyMayorJoe need to take re: public safety and the upcoming FOP contract.

The FOP would declare war, and they'd double down on the laughably twisted logic of

"Look, all these crimes didn't prevent or solved means WE NEED MORE MONEY."

But if Indianapolis truly wants to build a city that works for all its citizens, we can't keep dumping 1/3 of the budget in what boils down to a self-serving protection scheme with 0 citizen oversight.

Most crime comes as a result of unmet needs.

Let's invest in the kind of public safety approach that prevents crime, and not into a department that's just not working.

To recap: @IMPD_Chief has now twice publicly conjured up two false reasons why officers might have stolen @indy10people medical supplies and is now on record refusing to review the evidence that shows the truth. What a shock that IMPD won’t investigate itself

This council’s response to the community’s collective protests against police brutality - which featured numerous examples of police brutality from IMPD - is going to be handing this department more money.

The 1/3 of the city budget IMPD gets? Also pays for settlements, btw. So we pay officers to beat women in broad daylight - as they were trained, they say in their defense - and then we’ll end up paying those citizens for ensuring that mistreatment. How does that make sense?!

My experience with the @IndyCouncil last night seems to have brought a few new folks to the feed, so if ya'll haven't watched the IMPD actions from 5/29 that have me riled up, please take a minute:

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