INDIANAPOLIS — The Black Church Coalition is calling for IMPD to be transparent and accountable in their investigation into the fatal shooting of a man on the city's northeast side.
An IMPD officer fatally shot 49-year-old Gary Harrell after a foot pursuit in the 3400 block of Parker Avenue on Thursday.
In a statement to local media, the BCC noted that "IMPD continues to follow an egregious pattern of being selective about releasing details in a series of officer-involved shootings."
IMPD says during the shooting, the officer fired shots at Harrell after a traffic stop for reckless driving led to a foot pursuit.
According to IMPD, Harrell had a gun on him during the incident.
“This is the second time within the last year in which officers have displayed excessive and overwhelming force to individuals they are engaging with in the community where I pastor,” said Rev. Timothy G. Taylor, senior pastor of Tabernacle Missionary Baptist Church. “The people in this community do not feel safe with their own police department. We have lost trust in the leadership of IMPD, which continues not to hold its officers accountable.”
Thursday's shooting occurred in the same neighborhood of another recent IMPD officer-involved shooting.
Anthony Maclin was shot more than 30 times while sleeping in a rental car on New Year's Eve in 2022.
The BCC is calling for IMPD to release unedited body cam footage of Thursday's incident. They say body cam footage of the Maclin shooting was edited and released more than a month after the incident.
"This practice of editing bodycam footage to create an illusion of what actually happened in real time is unacceptable," said Rev. Dr. Clyde Posley, senior pastor of the Antioch Fountain of Grace Church. “IMPD operates as if these incidents are necessary collateral damage to keeping our community safe. There’s an acceptable level of violence from this department, which is antithetical to a safe and healthy community.”
In response, IMPD sent us following statement:
The IMPD remains fully committed to the transparency and fairness, for our community and our officers. Over the past few years, the department has enacted new policies, 21st century policing training and new oversight boards, such as the Use of Force Review Board and General Orders Boards, which are both made up of a majority civilians.
Additionally, in 2019, IMPD began issuing body-worn cameras to officers. Body-worn cameras are designed to increase transparency, ensure accountability, and enhance public trust. This has been demonstrated through the release of body-worn camera footage even when it does not represent IMPD officers in a positive way.
For critical incident videos, the IMPD aims to strike a balance between preserving the integrity of the investigation and maintaining transparency with the community. Critical incident videos include information to give more comprehensive understanding regarding the details of a given incident. This includes relevant body camera footage, information regarding the nature of the call, 911 call audio (if applicable), other videos beyond the body camera video (if available), the steps in the investigative process, and the status of the investigation. The process for creating the videos has been guided by a diverse group of community stakeholders.
IMPD welcomes continued discussions with community stakeholders on how to more effectively work together towards trust, safety, and security for everyone.
