Listen Live

INDIANAPOLIS — An IMPD patrol officer deals with danger on a daily basis, but the biggest struggles are the ones that go unseen.

According to IMPD Lieutenant Shane Foley, balancing the expectations of both the community and the police agency can be a difficult part of the job.

“Somebody who lives on a street where there’s a lot of speeding going on, their concern is going to be speeding. At the same time, we’re facing a situation where we’ve had more homicides and non-fatal shootings than ever, in the history of our city,” said Lt. Foley, during a Saturday ride-along. “How do you, as a patrol officer, balance the expectation of that individual community member who’s saying ‘hey, I’ve got kids who play on the street, I don’t want cars speeding down my street’ when collectively, as a city, we’re facing violence?”

In terms of combating crime and responding to runs, IMPD is stretched thin. Lt. Foley says the major problems lie in two areas: figuring out what to respond to, and the need for better tools. To help remedy these issues, IMPD has set up task forces to better focus on the people, places and areas that are most involved in violent crime.

However, Lt. Foley says, IMPD still needs more help to get the job done properly. He says if he could snap his fingers and fix one thing about the department, he’d add more people.

“All these initiatives we have are great, but we need the bodies to make it work,” Lt. Foley said. For him, the ideal police force would consist of 4,000 police officers that have all the physical resources they can access — and, overall, they must be actively committed to improving the quality of life for the citizens of their community.

For the future, Lt. Foley hopes to build more bridges between the police and the community, who may not be as accepting of their advances. To do so, IMPD has released videos of officer-involved shootings, and invited media to their training sessions. The hope is to establish a connection between law enforcement and a hesitant community.

“It’s just like when you go to Disney World. There’s that theory of, it takes ten positive experiences to make up for one negative experience,” Lt. Foley said. “It’s daunting, but some of us like challenges.”