INDIANAPOLIS — There have been 14 officer-involved shootings so far this year. 10 of them happened within the last three months.
Friday, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief said the department is having conversations with officers regarding training and being aware of their surroundings, but also asks the public to comply.
Sharon Cannon and the Marion County Coroner's Office say Frederick Davis was shot and killed Thursday night inside the burger king off East 21st Street and Shadeland Avenue.
"That's my nephew. That's my husband's sister's son," said Cannon.
Police say it started with a trespassing call at a nearby hotel that eventually led employees at the restaurant to flag down officers.
During the arrest attempt, IMPD accuses Davis of fighting with the officer, who IMPD has since identified as 5-year veteran Patrol Officer Nicolas Deem, disarming the officer and shooting him.
IMPD says Officer Deem then used his secondary weapon to shoot Davis.
IMPD Chief Randal Taylor says the officer received a graze wound and has since been released from the hospital.
“He’s doing well, as to be expected. Obviously, that’s a traumatic experience. We will keep an eye on him,” Taylor said.
According to arrest records, Davis was charged with trespassing at least twice this year.
"My nephew is mentally ill and homeless," said Cannon.
The recent uptick in officer-involved shootings this year has left family and community members concerned.
"We've not seen anything like this for a while. It's not that Indianapolis hasn't had more shootings in the past. In 2015, we had 20 but that's not a record you want to break or get close to," said Taylor.
Cannon isn't the first family member of a suspect killed due to mental health issues.
Taylor says the common denominator in most cases has been armed suspects mixed with the refusal to obey officer commands.
"A lot of bad decisions by people with weapons. As Chief, I hate to see people put our officers in positions to make difficult decisions. That's a lot of what we have seen. It’s still a pending investigation so I'm not saying there isn't accountability on our side," said Taylor.
Accountability is something community members have expressed frustration over.
They've cited the lengthy process of waiting on a decision from the Marion County Prosecutor's Office as to whether the officer-involved cases will be tried criminally and frustration from IMPD regarding if the officer followed protocol.
"They [investigations] do take time. I understand the frustration with that. I can't speak for MCPO, they make their own decisions on whether or not it's going to go to a grand jury. Those do take time," he said.
WRTV checked with other police agencies across the country to see how many officer-involved shootings there have been this year.
Detroit is seeing a recent uptick as well with four in two months and 10 total for the year. Memphis has had at least 13 officer involved shootings. Baltimore has had 3.
The chief says he's looking into bringing an outside agency in to review the shootings and see if there is something IMPD should be doing differently or not.
The chief also said some incidents happen too quick for the department's Mobile Crisis Assistance Team to respond. He says he still hopes to expand the unit to 24 hours, seven days a week.
The city's clinician-lead community response team focuses solely on non-violent mental health calls in downtown.
The team said it's responded to more than 70 mental health calls since it launched.
