Under the leadership of former Public Safety Director Frank Straub, IMPD repeatedly used federal grant money it received under the COPS program to fund existing police positions rather than funding new positions in violation of the program. Nonetheless, the feds kept awarding the grant money because it just likes giving away money to fund programs it doesn't have money to fund.
Last year, the Ballard administration chose not to re-apply for the grant money to deliberately exacerbate funding for the department as a way of pressuring the City-County Council to pass yet another local income tax increase to fund the hiring of more police. The administration had been relying on COPS grant money to fund 50 positions. Despite the millions in additional funding the city received from the COPS grant, staffing levels for IMPD actually fell.
Yesterday, our federal prosecutor, Josh Minkler, joined IMPD Chief Rick Hite to announce the City had been once again awarded $1.8 million in COPS grant funding to hire 15 police officers, along with other assorted grant money, raising the total grant funding to $2.5 million. The COPS funding is supposed to pay the salary and benefits for 15 officers for a three-year period. So the City will simply shift funding for new positions it planned to hire with the increased income tax revenues to the COPS grant funding and use the the tax increase money elsewhere like it's done in the past.
IMPD had hoped to win federal grant money to purchase body cams for police officers, the total cost for which is estimated between $2 and $4 million. Two other Indiana cities were chosen, including Fort Wayne and West Lafayette, to receive that federal grant money according to Fox 59 News. The City should have used the $6 million it's giving to Blue Indy to purchase body cams for police officers if it had its priorities straight. On that point, has anyone else heard the rumor that Ballard has lined up a new job when he leaves office that is directly related to the local folks who are benefiting financially from the illegal contracts he awarded to Blue Indy and Vision Fleet?
4 comments:
Another great posting; it's all there in your final paragraph, Gary, for everyone to read and see and recognize as truth.
Once again I and Marion County voters can say, "I told you so!" to our (mercifully) outgoing mayor and to our non-performing City County Council.... although in fairness I recognize the hamstrings placed on Councilors by the Republican led State Legislature at the whining and behest of a completely corrupt politician.
I Told You So: Nothing will be done about Blue Indy just as nothing will be done about Vision Fleet just as nothing will be done about Cricket Fields just as nothing will be done about "parking garage give-aways" (whether to Ersal or to Tadd), nothing will be done about street clogging bicycle lanes, nothing will be done about... any of the corruption we've witnessed from Mr. Ballard's administration. What WILL occur is that the corruption will merely shift under a
Joe Hogsett mayoral administration. The status quo remains in situ regardless of what our Democrat or Republican Councilors say.
I was at a dinner last week where guests were chatting about the "Pence Must Go" campaign and what they saw as reasons Pence "must go". I asked how could they remain silent about Kyle Walker's Greg Ballard whose administration has been racked from day one it seems [based on prima facie with 'forged' or doctored legal instruments as in Blue Indy] with corruption, special interests deals, pay to play, and illegal schemes costing THEM- costing taxpayers- money. How could anyone remain silent to the numerous criminal and civil laws broken by Greg Ballard according to the CCC's General Counsel? If anyone is a danger to voters and their pocketbooks and transparency and honesty in government, I said at the time, it could be Greg Ballard... who is said to be hungering to be again elected to high office, possibly as governor. IMHO, if anyone should not be governor (or elected to any political office ever again), it is "Republican" Greg Ballard.
You hit the nail on the head, Chas, but the average Indy voter isn't astute enough to understand. Good luck in your quest. Let me know how it works out for you. It's not like this is San Francisco or even NOLA. In the end, it's just easier and more fun to move to a place where more than a handful of people passionately care about something other than the price of Bud Light and gasoline and what the people in New York think of us.
Josh Minkler has been an Assistant United States Attorney in the Southern District of Indiana since 1994. Mr. Minkler graduated Wabash College in 1985 and Indiana University School of Law in 1988.
I maybe wrong but I suspect Minkler will follow along in Hogshitt tradition.
Chas, our councilors may be hamstrung, but no one taped their mouths with duct tape. Once in a while one of them may speak aloud, but not very loud or very long about all the schemes and deals of the Ballard Regime. Intellectual vacancy must be a job requirement to be elected in Marion County or an agreement to be a part of the Republicrat Crony-Capitalism Party.
Josh Minkler a graduate of Wabash College? Well, that explains everything about why the Mayor hasn't faced any political political corruption charges. It's a cabal of Barnes&Thornburg Wabash grads who are actually pulling the strings of their willing puppet, Ballard. Wabash grads make sure that when one of their own gets caught breaking laws, they'll be assigned a Wabash defense attorney, prosecutor and judge. No matter how many DUI's a Wabash attorney is charged with, he'll escape any serious penalties and land in a high paying job courtesy of Wabash grads. But you don't have to be a Wabash grad to receive such favor. If you're Alex Carroll and your dad, a non-Wabash grad has donated millions to Wabash, you'll get a sweet deal like the ROC. When the heat gets too much, Wabash grads will direct the shredding of pertinent documents incriminating Carroll and themselves.
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