SOUTH BEND, Ind. — The mayor of South Bend is rolling out new policies on policing in the northern Indiana city.
“Reforming our public safety systems was the top priority when I entered into office and the importance of doing so is ever more urgent today,” said Mayor James Mueller in a press conference Monday.
Mueller along with police chief Scott Ruszkowski announced new policies that include a new use of force policy that essentially bans the use of chokeholds by officers while making an arrest. He is also once again pushing for a new police “discipline matrix” to better hold police officers accountable.
“We have never, in my 32 years, have ever taught it, never trained it, never used it,” said Ruszkowski. “However, we never had the words in our policy that you could never use chokeholds, stranglehold, carotid, whatever.”
Today marks one year since the shooting death of Eric Logan in South Bend by a police officer, which causes similar upheaval both in South Bend and nationwide. Ruszkowski also denounced what happened to George Floyd in Minneapolis calling it “sickening.”
“Any cop who thinks or relishes in this idea that what we saw is acceptable needs to turn in their badge right now,” Ruszkowski said. “We are more than willing and more than open to having these conversations because we can’t get it right unless people are telling us what we’re getting wrong.”
As for the aforementioned “discipline matrix” Mueller said it will make it easier and more consistent in holding officers accountable for doing something wrong based on the situation.
Mueller stopped short of saying he was planning to remove money from the South Bend police department. However, Chief Ruszkowski said if there is any money that needs to be removed from the department’s budget in order to alleviate the jobs that officers do that aren’t police-related he is all for it.
Similar reforms are happening in Indianapolis where Mayor Joe Hogsett is working with consultants to deep dive into how police in the Capital City can reform its use of force policy and other policies where he feels there may be “systemic racism.”
