Comments on Advance Indiana™: IMPD Will Expend Super Bowl Level Resources To Provide Security During Black Expo

The apparent answer to dealing with criminals is t...

2013-07-12T17:11:18.518-05:00

The apparent answer to dealing with criminals is to deprive law-abiding citizens of their civil rights, guaranteed by the Indiana & U. S. Constitution!!!

If downtown business owners don't rise up in protest for these planned events, then they deserve all of the economic losses they will most assuredly incur if
Ballard's plan is implemented. Instead of removing the problem event from its downtown locale,
Ballard is simply pandering to the ones who brought about this problem in the first place and who
are costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra policing for an event that is known for welcoming only African-Americans, in sharp contrast to other ethnic, community and gay pride events that welcome all and don't require a massive show of police force. Ballard's plan punishes innocent business owners, and it punishes the vast majority of Indianapolis residents who object to what this annual event is doing to harm our downtown.

Now do you see what's wrong with this picture? Someone tell me where the leadership is in all of
this.

The apparent answer to dealing with criminals is to deprive law-abiding citizens of their civil rights, guaranteed by the Indiana & U. S. Constitution!!!

If downtown business owners don't rise up in protest for these planned events, then they deserve all of the economic losses they will most assuredly incur if
Ballard's plan is implemented. Instead of removing the problem event from its downtown locale,
Ballard is simply pandering to the ones who brought about this problem in the first place and who
are costing us hundreds of thousands of dollars in extra policing for an event that is known for welcoming only African-Americans, in sharp contrast to other ethnic, community and gay pride events that welcome all and don't require a massive show of police force. Ballard's plan punishes innocent business owners, and it punishes the vast majority of Indianapolis residents who object to what this annual event is doing to harm our downtown.

Now do you see what's wrong with this picture? Someone tell me where the leadership is in all of
this.

Numerous eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras hel...

2013-07-12T17:09:19.669-05:00

Numerous eyewitnesses and surveillance cameras helped police quickly identify Shamus Patton as the chief suspect in the shooting of nine victims at two different locations. With the unwitting help of Patton's family members, police were led to him on the City's westside almost two full days after the shootings. The second shooting suspect, who waited to take his shot at his
victim a full 90 minutes after Patton allegedly opened fire on his victims, has yet to be identified by police and is still on the streets.

Frankly, I found nothing impressive about the work of police in capturing Patton. What this weekend's events proved was the ostentatious show of police force at the event did nothing to curtail the worst type of criminal activity from happening and failed miserably to lead to the quick apprehension of the shooters before the shooters had a chance to dispose of the weapons. Police were under orders to patrol the downtown so passively that would-be criminals accurately perceived they could commit heinous crimes in full public view with TV news cameras all around and escape without capture.

In the case of Patton, he had particular reason not to fear the police. Despite numerous arrests over the past couple of years, including crimes ranging from disorderly conduct, intimidation and criminal trespass to resisting law enforcement, illegal possession of a handgun and evidence of criminal gang association, the 17-year-old was able to go downtown Saturday night armed with a gun!!! Based on his comings and goings over the past two years, we can assume he served no sentence in a juvenile detention center for committing numerous crimes. Either police or prosecutors, or perhaps both, have failed to deal with this individual with appropriate punishment, which led to him being on the street and having the opportunity to shoot nine young victims. Not surprisingly, Saturday night's shootings are being linked by police to criminal gang
activity.

Despite years of experiencing the same sort of vio...

2013-07-12T17:08:40.217-05:00

Despite years of experiencing the same sort of violence and general mayhem during this event, Ballard, and IBE's leadership professed shock at what happened and insisted it was "isolated from, and had nothing to do with IBE sponsored events." Baloney!!!

IBE lures a mob of unsupervised teen-age thugs, gang members, and what many call "terrorists" every year to downtown this second weekend by promoting their "Teen
Bling" event, the name for which itself arguably invites the worst elements of the community.

When former Mayor Peterson turned his police force loose to crack down on lawbreakers a number of years ago, the African-American community rose up in protest. As a consequence, police have been ordered not to arrest anyone unless they are committing a serious or violent crime.

This has only led to more violence. The Mayor's answer is to add more police officers to
the point we now have almost the entire police force assigned to maintain order
during the event, an exercise that costs taxPAYERS hundreds of thousands of dollars annually!!!

What good has that show of police force accomplished? Two separate shooters draw guns and fire on ten victims with police on foot, bikes and horseback and riding in police cruisers. Both shooters escape despite the enormous police presence, with one of the shooters remaining at large...COVICTED, RELEASED, AND armed with a gun in the commission of a felony again!!!

I'd like to re-post something....from past beh...

2013-07-12T17:06:15.292-05:00

I'd like to re-post something....from past behavior, just for everyone to reflect on:

Mayor Greg Ballard, his Public Safety Director and various law enforcement officers congratulated each other on the capture of 17-year-old Shamus Patton. He's the person convicted of opening fire during Saturday night's Black Expo Summer
Celebration and shooting a total of nine young victims between the ages of 10 and 19 at two different locations before
escaping a police net comprised of 500 police officers surrounding
downtown. To watch these gentlemen patting themselves on the back at a press conference called to make the announcement of Patton's arrest you would have thought they had just captured
Osama bin Laden. I for one think they should have all been holding their heads in shame for their failed leadership in the wake of this past weekend's milieu.

Nobody should have been surprised at what happened this past weekend. Indianapolis residents
have become all too familiar of the news that comes out during the second weekend of Black Expo. This year's shootings make five separate shootings that have occurred at Black Expo since
2006. Downtown business owners dread the coming of this event every year. What could
otherwise be a profitable summer weekend with lots of out-of-town visitors becomes one of the
summer's worst weekends. Out-of-town visitors and local regulars avoid downtown like the plague during the second weekend of Black Expo. Bar and restaurant owners complain that their
employees don't want to work this weekend and fear for their personal safety. It got to the point a few years ago where a number of restaurants actually closed down. Business owners now say they have been ordered by the City to stay open during Black Expo or risk action being taken
against them by the City, such as yanking their alcohol permits.

Notwithstanding the ICVA's
incredulous claims that IBE pumps cough $23 million into the downtown economy, I challenge you to find any business owners downtown who will back up that claim.

NOTE: The Super Bowl is seen all over the world. ...

2013-07-12T16:38:47.230-05:00

NOTE: The Super Bowl is seen all over the world. It is a world event. Black Expo is nothing more than local hoodlums terrorizing our city and shooting people. Past performance is the best predictor of future behavior...

Shamus Patton shot 9 people less than 3 years ago. At the time the Headlines of The News read appropriately: "Alleged downtown shooter could face 100+ years in prison.", but a soft prosecutor with a liberal judge allowed that shooter to be out on our streets a few weeks ago...armed with a gun in a car that was fleeing police!!!! Terrorism. Who allowed it????

Why isn't that shooter in prison? Why was he armed with a gun and looking for a new victim? Why does our Mayor (apparently) allow this constitutional violation of his duty???????

-What gang member will win the "Shamus Patton...

2013-07-12T09:03:12.628-05:00

-What gang member will win the "Shamus Patton Award" this year?

-Super Bowl-level taxpayer paid security for Black Expo, an annual event that has been marked in recent years by gang violence and mass shootings. It is outrageous that The Mayor allows this to continue.

Consider this: the Indiana Constitution states in Article 1, Section 1, "...all power is inherent in the People; all free governments are, and of right ought to be, founded on their authority, and instituted for their peace, safety, and well-being. Sounds like The State of Indiana declares public safety to be job #1. So is allowing this event a constitutional violation?

The aroma of cordite and the intermittent rattle o...

2013-07-11T14:55:37.503-05:00

The aroma of cordite and the intermittent rattle of small arms fire herald the start of the annual Indianapolis Downtown outdoor marksmanship event.

Not sure but I would think if your required to wor...

2013-07-11T14:34:35.475-05:00

Not sure but I would think if your required to work they'd have to be compensated, and to me that means by $$$$. I think trading time off would have to be a voluntary option for them. And if it's 8 hour shift they would be entitled to 12 hours off (time and a half), if someone was working a day off. Besides trading time doesn't put bread on the table, $$ will.
Since IMPD lacks manpower, budget shortfall,etc, how about sending Blk Expo, IMS, Sports teams a bill for expenses? Of course that won't ever happen.

It's shameful that the Mayor allows this mayhe...

2013-07-11T12:49:03.351-05:00

It's shameful that the Mayor allows this mayhem to continue year after year. It should be banned...perhaps Gary or Detroit would like to host that event.

He's got his $6 million cricket field that no taxPAYERS want, but we are 600 less police than what we need for a city our size.

He's got stupid bike lanes on streets with a 40 or 45 MPH speed limit, that bikes should not be ridden on....not to mention the mess he created in Broad Ripple at OUR expense.

Riotous mayhem takes place most weekends downtown and in Broad Ripple and riot squads have to respond.

2013-07-11T10:11:08.958-05:00

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There will be no overtime for Officers. What usual...

2013-07-11T10:10:46.733-05:00

There will be no overtime for Officers. What usually ends up happening is 1/3 of the force it detailed to the Expo. Officers who are supposed to be on their regularly scheduled Days Off or "Week End", will be forced to work the event. Then in the following 2 weeks, all the officers who were forced to work (because IMPD is sickly short on Manpower, Will Trade their Day out with days they should have worked normally patrolling their Beats and Zones. Then all the extra hours worked by Officers who were working that day anyway will traded out.
I think You can see how this compounds the already dire situation by shortening the skeleton crews that work the street even further. This plan pulls more Officers off the streets for the following 2 weeks., resulting in LESS officers patrolling neighborhoods. The real victims are the citizens of Indianapolis.

Also the new plan for "100" new officers to be moved to the streets, it is one of the Mayor's gimmicks. Only 18-20 tops were actual moves. the remaining 80 or so were smoke and mirrors. Those NRO Officers (Neighborhood Resource Officers = Proactive Officers) ONLY changed the way they log on the computer at the beginning of their day. Nothing changed about their duties or assignments. They were already "assigned"a n area to pay attention to. Now if ALL patrol officers on a district are on runs and ALL supervisors are dispatched, ONLY then will they take runs. Gimmicks.
I know at least 4 times this week on my district on my shift We were COMPLETELY out of Patrol Cars to respond to anything. And at least 6 times Animal Control had no one to send to an active event like a actual dog bite w/child bit. The Indianapolis's ability to provide Public Safety is in bad shape. Why do the citizens pay on their backs and with their lives to feed the pockets of a few in this administration?
But we have Cricket....

Marion county's clerk has curiously made state...

2013-07-11T09:01:02.169-05:00

Marion county's clerk has curiously made statements about legality of altered applications / documents. The question is, why would that office expend public resources, time & energy, performing anything other than that which they understand to be legal?