In a news conference Saturday afternoon, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department demoted three officers who were the top ranking officials at the scene after the fatal accident involving Officer David Bisard.
Asst. Chief Darryl Pierce, Deputy Chief Ron Hicks and Commander John Conley were all demoted to their merit rank (the rank they held before becoming IMPD top brass).
Mayor Greg Ballard, Public Safety Director Frank Straub and Police Chief Paul Ciesielski were all in attendance at Saturday’s press conference.Ballard said his main concern is the public confidence of the department and that officers must be held to the highest standards.
Straub said that he will be relentless in the pursuit to reform the police department after incidents of excessive use of force, misconduct and other inappropriate behavior. He went on to say that he will not tolerate that type of behavior.
Ciesielski said that members of the leadership failed in this case. While the leadership didn’t prevent the accident, it could have prevented the failure in the investigation.(News8.com)
But is it enough for the people of Indianapolis and the families of the accident victims?
There was a rally against the dropped DUI charges on Bisard due to lack of protocol. Some would say that the officers on the scene intentionally mishandled the key evidence so that the lead case would fall apart, as it did in the first days of this unheard of case in Indianapolis.
There are statements that Officer Bisard bought a handle of Vodka at one of the local CVS’s the night before the accident in uniform. If these findings are true, this is also against IMPD policy. In the press conference, it was promised that there is more to come in the days ahead as the FBI look into the accident and what lead up to the fatal moment.
Comments