Thursday, July 12, 2007

Police Chief Rusty York Senority vs. Junior Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries tough on crime election ploy

The Final Version

(Fort Wayne - WANE) Wednesday morning, law enforcement officials from several different agencies announced details of a Gang Unit being formed in Fort Wayne. Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York will be joined by Mayor Graham Richard, an ATF agent and a representative from the Allen County Prosecutor's office.

A press release issued by the FWPD describes the main objective of the Gang Unit will be to fight gan violence within the city. This will be accomplished through various investigative techniques which include targeted enforcement, surveillance, undercover operations and interaction with community leaders.

"Our officers have a tremendous amount of information and will continue gathering more to make sure gangs do not become a problem in Fort Wayne," Police Chief Rusty York said.

The Gang Unit will be made up of a Fort Wayne Police Department supervisor, four uniformed FWPD officers and an ATF officer.

Police say of the 15 homicides in Fort Wayne this year nine of them are gang related. The police also say they are on pace to confiscate nearly 700 weapons in 2007.


The Misstep


A revival of a joint county-city police task force that would target gun crimes in Fort Wayne is off the table for now.

Allen County Sheriff Ken Fries had planned on requesting permission to apply for a U.S. Department of Justice grant that would have paid for teams of sheriff's officers and Fort Wayne police officers to target areas that have seen high rates of gun violence. The Project Safe Neighborhoods grant request was scheduled to be on the County Council agenda for its monthly meeting Thursday.

But Fries withdrew his request and told the council, the county's fiscal body, that he would not seek the grant money now because the city police department would not sign off on a memorandum of understanding.

The proposed task force, known as the Metro Squad, has been met with strong opposition from residents on the city's southeast side, including many blacks. The area was targeted by another Metro Squad in the 1990s.

Police Chief Rusty York said he did not sign off on the memorandum of understanding because the proposal as written did not meet all of the requirements of the grant.

To be eligible for those federal dollars, county and city police departments must work with the prosecutor's office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The program must also target gang activity, not just gun crimes, York said.

The grant called for using intelligence and to focus on individuals when addressing gun crimes and gangs, he said. Fries' grant did not include those elements, he said.

Fries said part of the reason to drop the grant request was because more money would be available if the departments applied for 2007 grant money. If he applied now, he would be seeking leftover money from a 2006 grant.

He said he was hoping to receive about $50,000 through the grant. Less than that would limit the effectiveness of the task force. If the program is seen as not effective, Fries said, residents would question why it should continue.

Taking the Metro Squad off the table had nothing to do with concerns of residents. Despite residents' concerns, they still want safe neighborhoods, Fries said.

On Thursday, however, County Councilwoman Maye Johnson, D-1st, told Fries that those concerns have not gone away. She asked to meet with Fries to get a better understanding of the program before he would come before council again to ask permission to apply for the grant.

Residents are worried that the task force would target black men and that they would be harassed when stopped by police, she said. She also worries about excessive force being used, she said.

Residents don't want police to jump out of cars and point guns at people as that happened with the original Metro Squad, she said.

"This is very fresh in the minds of people," she said.

Johnson agreed that residents throughout the city want to feel safe. But collaboration between police and neighborhood associations and relationship-building has had a positive effect in southeast Fort Wayne, she said.

Programs like Fries' Metro Squad are more effective when the community understands what police are doing and what they are trying to accomplish, York said.

"You need to ramp up for these efforts so nobody is surprised and so everyone knows what's going to happen," he said.

There is a need for this type of program, York said, and the city police department looked at applying for the same grant previously. Because of that need, Fries' vision could still become a reality, York said.


The Result:

Democrats get credit for being tough on crime.

What was the different? Look for the bold highlight

Fort Wayne Police Chief Rusty York will be joined by Mayor Graham Richard, an ATF agent and a representative from the Allen County Prosecutor's office.

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