INDIANAPOLIS — As the new Chief of Police for IMPD, Chris Bailey says his top focus is the safety of his community.
“Violent crime reduction will always be the top of priority list,” Chief Bailey told WRTV on Tuesday. Chief Bailey sat down with WRTV one day after he was sworn in as Chief of Police for IMPD.
“When we lose community members, we take it personal, I take it personal” Chief Bailey said. As a 25-year veteran of the force, Chief Bailey hopes to see more reduction in violent crime.
His goal within his first 100 days of office? Chief Bailey says he is focusing on the department's outside review of what led up to the Officer-Involved shootings in 2023.
“What can we do as an agency to try and prevent these and mitigate these issues but also what can the community do to try to prevent and mitigate these issues and understand what is happening around us,” Chief Bailey added.
Another one of Chief Bailey’s top priority’s is hiring and retaining more officers for a staff that’s been depleted of its force.
“The more officers we have here, the safer our officers will be – the happier they will be, and they won’t feel as much burden,” Chief Bailey told WRTV on Tuesday.
It’s that burden that Chief Bailey hopes to take off its force and continue to build its working relationship with people in the community that will pay off for the department in 2024.
“Without their trust and legitimacy – the work that we do every day will be incomplete,” Chief Bailey concluded.
