The Comprehensive Plan and Public Process - by Cathy Burton

Press Release: October 6, 2005

The Marion County Alliance of Neighborhood Associations (MCANA) has voted to oppose City County Council Proposal 471 concerning police consolidation in Marion County because there is no provision for a binding public referendum. The Board took this position at its October 5^th meeting.

McANA President, Cathy Burton said “setting aside all of the exchanges about whose figures are correct and whether there will truly be any savings or whether this will ending up costing the taxpayers more money, the bottom line is, this a is broad and irreversible decision that affects everyone’s safety and quality of life. The public should be permitted to decide this issue through a public referendum.”

The position of the Board was reached after listening to months of debate from elected officials, law enforcement agencies, residents and businesses in Marion County about the pros and cons of the consolidation effort that originated last year with the unveiling of Mayor Bart Peterson’s Indianapolis Works proposal.

Pat Andrews, McANA’s Vice-President, stated that “We have the war of the accountants raging over our heads. At the end of the day, Indy’s Neighborhoods will care more about whether police consolidation will leave them with fewer officers on patrol in their area. Folks in the IPD district will want to know if 250 officers will be diverted to the Sheriff’s area and folks in the Sheriff’s district will want to know if 200 officers will be reassigned to the IPD area. They should have a say on this fundamental issue in the voting booth.”

McANA believes that between now and the November election the Sheriff’s Department and the Indianapolis Police Department could continue to look at other forms of collaboration to improve service and efficiencies that do not required adopting a new law. That time could also be used to test those theories of collaboration prior to a legal mandate.

THE MOTION

Adequate and effective law enforcement protection is one of the most basic and essential services that a government is charged to provide to its citizens. Because Police Consolidation is a broad based change in both policy and practice to how our law enforcement is delivered to our community, MCANA believes that the public should have a direct voice in the final decision by means of a binding public referendum. For this reason, MCANA opposes the resolution for Police Consolidation as it is currently configured because City County Council proposal 471 does not provide for a binding public referendum.