INDIANAPOLIS — The Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police (FOP) is calling for major changes, including bringing in the Indiana State Police, as IMPD faces its lowest staffing levels since it was formed in 2007.
The FOP calls it "Operation Firewall."
"What we are witnessing is the coalescing of all the ingredients for a perfect storm," FOP President Rick Snyder said.
The top priority is increasing officer pay which the FOP said is outpaced by surrounding departments that are picking off IMPD officers to come and work for them. The plan also calls for the department to transition to 10-hour shifts so that officers will overlap during peak times.
However, the most drastic proposal calls for the Indiana State Police to be brought in to supplement the city's police force.
"They could take on patrol responsibilities in the neighborhoods, on our roadways and throughout the city," Snyder said.
The FOP said it has reached out to Superintendent Doug Carter about the feasibility of the proposal and a review is underway.
On Wednesday, Chief Chris Bailey said calling in state troopers is premature.
“We’re not there, we don’t feel like we’re there and I think it would be a little irresponsible to say that because we’re talking about people and people’s lives including our cops," Bailey said.
While they may not be there yet, Snyder said the clock is ticking and right now the outlook isn't good.
"When we start going to slashing services like the chief has suggested, we begin swirling the drain as a community," Snyder said. "We cannot allow that to happen."
The calls from the FOP come as IMPD hits a record low in terms of its number of officers.
At a budget hearing on Sept. 11, Chief Bailey said his department currently has 1,464 officers which is nearly 300 less than the 1,743 they're budgeted to have.
Numbers provided by the chief show the department has lost 71 officers so far this year and will likely lose more to retirements and transfers to other departments.
"Every single day there are vacancies on the shifts and right now we have not slashed any of our services or told community members that we won't be showing up on their particular run, but we're very close to that," Bailey said.
Bailey said the city really needs more than 2,000 officers to "properly patrol and protect" the city.
He compared IMPD to the Boston Police Force which patrols around 89 square miles and 650,000 people with more than 2,000 police officers. IMPD patrols 400 square miles with nearly 1 million people with far fewer officers.
Bailey said his focus right now remains on making sure his officers have what they need and pointed out that the department has recently added three recruit classes each year with the goal of bringing in more officers.
In response to Snyder's "Operation Firewall," IMPD pointed out that the city is currently in negotiations with the FOP for a new contract.
"IMPD Chief Bailey will take the necessary time to thoroughly review President Snyder’s press conference and proposal," a spokesperson said. "The City of Indianapolis and FOP Lodge 86 are actively engaged in contract negotiations, which do not involve Chief Bailey directly and will remain confidential until a tentative agreement is reached."
You can read Snyder's full proposal here: