Friday, August 06, 2010

Straub Sends Chief Out To Defend Him

 

Under growing heat, Public Safety Director Frank Straub apparently ordered IMPC Chief Paul Ciesielski to hold a press conference this afternoon to assure the media he's got Straub's back. It looks like Straub is particularly incensed by a Craig's List posting that was linked on this blog's first report on the turmoil brewing within IMPD over Straub's dictatorial management style. An anonymous IMPD officer posted comments on Craig's List that makes a number of accusations against Straub. Some of the accusations include:

  • Appointed a new chief of police and then turned around and told the new chief that he (Straub) runs the dept., not the chief.
  • Ordered the creation of new collar brass for all IMPD officers to wear on their uniforms that read "Public Safety dept." instead of IMPD.....not a real big deal except for the fact that officers were required to go out and purchase new collor brass less than 6 months ago (out of their own pockets) and now will have to purchase the new collar brass that the director is mandating be worn.
  • There is talk about taking away the take home cars that officers currently have. While this may save money, it will also REDUCE police presence throughout the city and we can all watch the crime rates sore even higher.
  • (my favorite) Straub wants to somehow combnine police and fire services including cross training officers in fire fighter tactics and having officers carry fire gear in the police cars. I'm not sure where he gets these ideas, but even a fully cross trained officer with turnout gear isn't going to do a damned thing to extingush a fire before a piece of fire apparatus arrives with a way to pump water from a hydrant and something to pump it thru (a hose)...so what exactly is going to be accomplished with this move??? There is also talk about having all of the IMPD roll call site moved into IFD firehouses.
  • Straub apparently needs a "protection detail" of 2 officers with him at all times. ( the mayor only has one officer detailed to him at a time) Here is a real cost savings move for the city.
  • Lastly, he (Straub) has made it known that he will crush any opposition from within the dept. to his ideas and has made an example of several officers who have questioned or openly opposed any of his plans for public safety. (Has anyone noticed a certain public info officer with IMPD that we no longer see on the news....he was moved to a late shift district position after challenging Straub on several concerns that he had about the planned changes) So much for open dialogue within the dept. and the officers' ability to speak freely about concerns they have. I mean hell, they're JUST the people out there putting their lives on the line each day they go out.....why should they have a say in how these changes affect them?
Ballard tried to get a little creative with this appointment. The guy is obviously a complete disaster in this job. I question the need for a Public Safety Director when you have chiefs over the police and fire departments already. It just seems like an unnecessary bureaucratic layer between the mayor and the police and fire departments. Before Ballard became mayor, you hardly knew who the public safety director was because the person who held the post generally kept a pretty low profile. Even as well known as Scott Newman was when he assumed the post, you didn't see him on TV and in print constantly speaking about matters that would be handled by police spokespersons or the chief. Straub clearly has an over-sized ego that is not serving him well. And it's not clear at all that he brings the appropriate skill set to this job. He certainly can't be said to have good people skills or he wouldn't find himself in the mess he finds himself right now.

16 comments:

Blog Admin said...

RE: the security detail, it looks like he's taking a page out of the Carl Brizzi playbook.

As for the take home cars thing, I'd like to see some documentation on how they're used. But I'd much rather cut and curtail other city/county bodies that have take home cars before cutting it from IMPD. We can start with the sheriff's department.

Paul K. Ogden said...

Hey, IS, you never know when a sheriff's deputy needs to serve legal process or transport an inmate. Gotta have those cars ready to go.

Indy4U2C said...

This is one Arrogant idiot! FRANK STRAUB: Take your wierd-intellectual stuff to some leftist commune.

Frank, we all see when you order your puppet to speak about you....talk about OBVIOUS!

Unknown said...

Sending the Police Chief out to offer defense??? What a joke this leftist Frank Straub really is!

Straub thinks we can't see what's going on? This idiot wanna-be police officer is using the police chief as a pawn.


Goodbye Frank! See-ya! Adios!

Downtown Indy said...

The Doctor of Public Safety needs to take the Hippocratic Oath, "First, do no harm..."

Brizzonator said...

Where is the story on the PIO Officer Mount..... Screw Straub and his approach.... These officers have the power to no longer write tickets... What will that cost the Marion County TaxPayers...

That Brizzi Blowhard Straub needs to get his house lited for sale and move to some liberal a$$ town like DC... No COPPERS want his BS.... Show that knucklehead the hardway.....

Brizzonator said...

Dr. Straub's brother play DORF.... o Carol Burnett... i.e. Tim Conway... Whaty an A-hole coming to Indy wanting to be called DR.

He is a j@ck off....

Chief C needs to distance himself from the the d- bag....

Brizzonator said...

Dr. S. better pack it up and put the house up for sale and leave town packin... Chief Ciel... is not interested in RUBBING Vicks Vapor Rub on Dr. S. to help him start to breath better....

Dr. S is a total SLAP!!

How much does Dr. Slap make?

Indy4U2C said...

IBJ reports that Straub has spend a huge sum creating his personal suite in the city-county building...and now plans on TAXING AND SPENDING more of our money on real estate deals:

1) Rent the dead Eastgate Mall
2) Buy a school in the middle of a neighborhood with no easy main streets to get to it for a police station....so much for response to calls.
3) Move and demolish Fire Headquarters????? How does this save money? I'll tell you it sounds like someone has received a pat on the back and a little something else in the pocket from a real estate developer. We have a perfectly good Fire Headquarters now, how does anyone justify tearing it down & selling the land????

Close one of the biggest Fire Stations in the City & open a small one somewhere else near downtown. That's just wrong! That big fire station has the boat, closed space rescue, scuba...where will they go???? -To Franklin Twp near Acton?

He is spending our money on unnecessary real estate deals, instead of Public Safety! That money would be better spent by hiring police, or building a super-jail on the old Market Square Arena property.

Downtown Indy said...

Was the PIO reference to Mount or Duhammel? Both seem to have quietly disappeared from TV news reports.

I have a hard time figuring out why the Doctor of Public Safety needs two in his security detail since he and the aayor both swear violent crime is down.

Marycatherine Barton said...

I do not think that it is fair that we taxpayers have to pay for a police officer to drive a county car, for personal business or transport to and from his home, outside Marion County.

Concerned Taxpayer said...

Dwntwn Indy, he probably has them picking up his heavily starched laundry and washing and waxing his taxpayer supplied vehicle.
It's probably a big black SUV w/ heavy tinting, 16 antennas, 5 machine guns, and a satellite system.

Unknown said...

Let me see here: The Public Safety Director isn't hiring new police, or buying equipment for police but he is SPENDING money to build a luxury office suite in the city-county building that costs as much as several police salaries???

He wants to rent Eastgate Mall space...the city needs a shopping center. I'm sure there is good use for it. (Not scratching someone real estate broker's back). The city had sold it at a tax sale years ago, so if the city needed a mall, why didn't it move in when it already owned the parcel???

Moving police offices into an old school that is located in a residential subdivision, not off any main streets. Hmmm, that sounds like long response times for police and confusion for people who need to go there.

Sell Fire Headquarters. Now if that doesn't sound like some real estate broker got to him!!!! It is a perfect location and also has a large fire station with special apparatus that may be needed anywhere. It is centrally located and close to interstate access. Just why would we sell it???

Is this the same type of "tit for tat" that Rod Blagojevich spoke of in his corruption trial? -it sure sounds like it!

Gary R. Welsh said...

I should point out that the idea to move the fire department headquarters and the adjacent fire station and sell that property for new development originated under Peterson. I'm surprised it hasn't already happened. Ballard proposed building a new criminal justice center on the old MSA site until the Peterson folks slapped him down because of the costs of constructing the new building.

Downtown Indy said...

Wait... There was supposed to be a huge secure data center going in the old Eastgate property.

Did that fold?

CircleCityScribe said...

...real smart putting the Homeland Security people in our city's "tornado alley". Let's spend millions on it!

-Vegas can take odds on how long before a tornado sweeps it away!!!