OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Public Safety Committee Meeting - September 24, 2025

City-County Council — Wednesday, September 24, 2025
BodyIndianapolis, Indiana
SessionCity-County Council
DateWednesday, September 24, 2025
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 32:16

Transcript — Verbatim
0:03

Good evening.

0:06

Good evening, everyone.

0:07

It is 5 30 p.m.

0:08

on Wednesday, September 24th, 2025.

0:12

We're in the public assembly room of the City County Building.

0:14

Welcome to the public safety and criminal committee of the City County Council.

0:18

We'll start our meeting.

0:19

Introduction of our counselors.

0:20

First roll, Councilor Hart.

0:22

Thank you, Mr.

0:23

Chair.

0:24

Michael Paul Hart, District 20.

0:26

Thank you, Mr.

0:26

Chairman.

0:26

Josh Bain, District 21.

0:28

Just as a quick note, I do have to leave at 6 o'clock for a meeting in the district tonight.

0:32

Thank you.

0:33

Thank you, Mr.

0:34

Chair.

0:34

Paul and A, District 22.

0:36

Thank you, Mr.

0:37

Chair.

0:37

Brian Mower, District 25.

0:40

Thank you, Mr.

0:41

Chairman, Dan Boots, District 3, Washington Lawrence Townships.

0:45

Thank you, Chairman, Jessica McCormick, District 16, West Side.

0:49

Thank you, Mr.

0:50

Chair.

0:50

Brienne Delaney, District 2.

0:53

And the top roll, please.

0:57

Councilor Graves.

0:59

Council Graves, District 9 on the Indian dependency side.

1:04

Frank Miscarry, District 19, Southeast Side.

1:08

And thank you, Councillor.

1:09

Counselor Perkins.

1:10

Thank you, Mr.

1:11

Chair.

1:11

Good evening, all.

1:12

Dr.

1:13

Carlos Perkins, District 6.

1:15

Thank you, Councillors.

1:16

We do have a few items on our agenda this evening.

1:18

One presentation and a couple budget items, and then the adoption of the 2026 budget.

1:24

First up with the presentation is the early intervention planning council.

1:28

Ms.

1:28

Elizabeth Elizabeth Coyt.

1:30

You ready?

1:32

And the council do have a presentation, hard copy front of them.

1:49

Ms.

1:49

Coit, thank you.

1:50

And we will do a QA after your complete presentation.

1:55

Thank you.

1:55

Take your time.

1:56

I appreciate it.

2:05

Thank you.

2:06

Appreciate it.

2:07

Thank you for the opportunity to share with you what we've been up to with the early intervention and planning council.

2:15

What I'd like to do is first I'll share a little bit about just a reminder about sort of what the council is and what our budget is for the coming season, our year.

2:27

And then I want to share a little bit about sort of what we have been doing in terms of understanding the scope of child services across the city and focusing our efforts in terms of creating a plan.

2:44

So first, just uh a quick reminder on the power of prevention and why why this ordinance was even created.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Public Safety█████████████████████████████████████37%
Youth Programs████████████████████████████████████36%
Budget████████████12%
Procedural███████████11%
Immigration Policy████4%
Summary of Proceedings

Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee Meeting - September 24, 2025

The Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee of the Indianapolis-Marion County City-County Council met on Wednesday, September 24, 2025, at 5:30 p.m. in the Public Assembly Room of the City-County Building. The committee heard a presentation from the Early Intervention Planning Council (EIPC), approved tax levies for police and fire special service districts, and voted on the public safety portion of the 2026 annual budget.

Consent Calendar

  • Proposal No. 256, 2025: Approved the tax levy and rate for the Police Special Service District for 2026, setting a rate of $0.1028 per $100 of assessed valuation (up from $0.0966 in 2025). Passed by voice vote.
  • Proposal No. 257, 2025: Approved the tax levy and rate for the Fire Special Service District for 2026, setting a rate of $0.2717 for the Consolidated Fire Service District Fund (up from $0.2556) and $0.0157 for the Fire Cumulative Capital Fund (up from $0.0141). Passed by voice vote.

Discussion Items

  • Early Intervention Planning Council (EIPC) Presentation: Elizabeth Coit, President of MCCOY (Marion County Commission on Youth), presented an overview of the EIPC’s work. Key data from the EIPC’s “Where the Children Are” report included: Marion County is home to over 240,000 children; approximately 4,500 are unhoused, 726 are in juvenile detention, and over 2,000 are designated as children in need of services (CHINS). The average number of CHINS cases has declined from a peak of 4,929 in 2017 to 2,376 as of June 2025. The city-funded budget for the EIPC is $71,500, but MCCOY leverages this with over $1 million in additional grants for related initiatives. Coit noted that Indiana ranks among the worst states for dual-status children (those involved in both child welfare and juvenile justice). The EIPC plans to review and propose revisions to its enabling ordinance in the first quarter of 2026 and seeks more regular engagement with the City-County Council. Councilor Anna expressed support and noted the bipartisan history of the council. Councilor Boots asked about interaction with CLPI (Center for Leadership and Policy Innovation), and Coit affirmed a strong relationship but suggested a more formal connection could be beneficial. Councilor Hart highlighted the link between truancy and juvenile crime, and Coit noted MCCOY’s work in that area.
  • Proposal No. 259, 2025 (2026 Annual Budget – Public Safety & Criminal Justice Portion): City Controller Abigail Hansen confirmed no changes to appropriations for agencies under this committee. Several councilors spoke during discussion:
    • Councilor Bain opposed the budget due to the lack of funding for the IMPD vehicle program (which the police chief had requested) and the court system’s refusal to share juvenile detention information with law enforcement.
    • Councilor Annay expressed support for the budget despite concerns about IMPD fleet services, the public defender agency, and grant dollars, hoping issues could be addressed later.
    • Councilor Hart announced plans to introduce an amendment on October 6 to fund the IMPD vehicle program, citing police morale and recruitment challenges. He voted no on the budget.
    • Councilor League (arriving late) also voted no, citing issues with sheriff’s office detention compensation and cooperation with ICE.
    • Councilor Boots criticized the Indiana Attorney General’s letter regarding the council’s ICE cooperation discussion, calling it a “blatant lie” and mischaracterization.
    • Councilor McCormick asked Director Andrew Merkley (Office of Public Health and Safety) to confirm funding for the immigrant legal defense fund; Merkley confirmed it would be funded at the same level as 2025.

Key Outcomes

  • Proposals 256 and 257 were approved by voice vote.
  • Proposal 259 (2026 annual budget – public safety portion) was approved on a roll-call vote of 9–4. Voting aye: Annay, Boots, Delaney, Graves, Mascarry, McCormick, Maori, Perkins, and Chair Robinson. Voting no: Bain, Carlino, Hart, and League. The budget fully funds the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) and the Indianapolis Fire Department. Councilor Hart announced a future amendment to address IMPD vehicle funding.

Meeting Transcript

Good evening. Good evening, everyone. It is 5 30 p.m. on Wednesday, September 24th, 2025. We're in the public assembly room of the City County Building. Welcome to the public safety and criminal committee of the City County Council. We'll start our meeting. Introduction of our counselors. First roll, Councilor Hart. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Michael Paul Hart, District 20. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Josh Bain, District 21. Just as a quick note, I do have to leave at 6 o'clock for a meeting in the district tonight. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Paul and A, District 22. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Brian Mower, District 25. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, Dan Boots, District 3, Washington Lawrence Townships. Thank you, Chairman, Jessica McCormick, District 16, West Side. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Brienne Delaney, District 2. And the top roll, please. Councilor Graves. Council Graves, District 9 on the Indian dependency side. Frank Miscarry, District 19, Southeast Side. And thank you, Councillor. Counselor Perkins. Thank you, Mr. Chair. Good evening, all. Dr. Carlos Perkins, District 6. Thank you, Councillors. We do have a few items on our agenda this evening. One presentation and a couple budget items, and then the adoption of the 2026 budget. First up with the presentation is the early intervention planning council. Ms. Elizabeth Elizabeth Coyt. You ready? And the council do have a presentation, hard copy front of them. Ms. Coit, thank you.

SUMMARIZED BY OPENPUBLICA AI
TRANSCRIPT VIA PUBLIC VIDEO
openpublica.com