INDIANAPOLIS -- While the search continues for the person responsible for spraying the northwest district headquarters with bullets late Tuesday, officers from that area met with local clergy members to find an answer to how they can help improve police-community relations.
In a time when tensions are high, Commander Christopher Bailey wants to not only reduce crime, but to recruit future officers.
“We can come interact with the children in these churches and they can learn we are not bogeymen,” said Bailey. “This is an honorable profession if you do it the right way. There is nothing better you can do with your life. That’s the way churches can help us solve crime and help us build a more diverse department.”
Father Douglas Hunter has a unique perspective; he used to be an Indianapolis police officer.
“Now that I’m on the outside looking in, whereas I used to be on the inside looking out, I have two different perspectives. I try to combine those two together,” said Hunter.
He says that although his calling has changed, he knows his former colleagues still need his help, just in a different way.
Police say they are receiving more tips from church members, because of the relationships they are developing.
They hope to hold meetings with the ministers at least four times each year.
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