Monday, September 09, 2013

Indianapolis Public Safety Department Abandons $18 Million Regional Operations Center Built For Super Bowl 2012

Indianapolis Public Safety Director has ordered 150 Indianapolis police officers and homeland security department personnel to immediately abandon the $18 million, public safety regional operations center at the former Eastgate Consumer Mall the Ballard administration rushed into use for the Super Bowl in 2012.

The center has been plagued by safety and hazard concerns since its opening. Last January, reports of ongoing code violations in the center surfaced after earlier reports of the need to deploy full-time fire safety personnel due to unsafe conditions at the facility. According to Public Safety Director Troy Riggs, the building still doesn't have an operating fire sprinkler system and fire walls designed to contain fire were not properly constructed.

The operations center will be relocated to a communications center operated by the Indianapolis International Airport on the west side, while the East District will operate out of the Police Training Academy at 10th and Post Road.

This is just another example of how large sums of taxpayer funds were blown all for the sake of hosting a Super Bowl without concern for the long-term consequences of such extravagant spending.

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Isn't Ballard's former Deputy Mayor Hubert over running the airport? I wonder if Pat Andrews thinks anything about this is fishy beyond it being just plain wasteful?

Gary R. Welsh said...

No, Huber only stayed in that job they created for him out at the airport that paid about $180,000 a year for about a year before taking the place of the guy they fired at the Greater Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, which now operates as a taxpayer-funded extension of the City of Indianapolis and is the most anti-business chamber of commerce in all of America. He must have figured out that the airport authority is going to face insolvency in short order and he didn't want to stick around to take the blame.

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the clarification. I don't understand how that guy a) has a job, and b) sleeps at night given how instrumental he has been in helping to pervert govt, dismantle free-markets, and deceive the public in almost every position he's had. Smart guy though, and friendly in person. Not many people know that he was around when the Mayor's office started planning out the Cricket Stadium, and his fingerprints are all over the garagemahall in broad ripple. I'd keep an eye on him.

Gary R. Welsh said...

Huber, like most people who were working for Mitch Daniels administration at the time, looked upon Greg Ballard's 2007 campaign for mayor as a joke. But when Joe Loftus called him up after the election and offered him a job working for a guy he wouldn't lift a finger to help get elected, he gladly accepted the offer.

Anonymous said...

Where is the law suit against Frank Straub for signing off on an apparently corrupt loss without Corporation Counsel approval????

The city should seek reimbursement for damages he caused.

Anonymous said...

Rudy Giuliani abandoned his emergency center in WTC7 and never even attempted to set foot in it on the morning of 9/11, despite there being zero indication that his command center was any way unfit for use.

Anonymous said...

There are detectives that are being moved to a location that has only a couple phone lines, no computer ports, no storage area, no place to do interviews. They can't take their file cabinets so they have to leave case files in a location that is not secure and they are being told they cannot go back in once they are out. Where is the grand jury subpoena for Frank Straubs ass to demand him back for investigative interviews??

Anonymous said...

This is city councilor Ben Hunter's deal. It is in his district and this deal was done when he was even on the Public safety committee. Why doesn't someone ask him about this? Mr. Mayor it is time to hold your troops accountable.

Pete Boggs said...

When an entire nation (France) is considering select / inequitable treatment of professional soccer players (excluding them from onerous 75% tax); unconstitutional mistreatment of everyone else is on the table:
www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/europe/france/10301469/French-football-clubs-could-be-exempt-from-75-per-cent-supertax.html