Board of Public Health and Safety Meeting - August 6, 2025

The Board of Public Health and Safety met on August 6, 2025, to adopt minutes, approve a contract for IMPD leadership training, and approve six sub-recipient contracts under the Community Violence Intervention and Prevention Initiative (CVIPI) grant. All items were approved unanimously.

Consent Calendar

• The minutes from the previous meeting were adopted without discussion.

Discussion Items

Item 080625A – Armstrong Consulting (IMPD Leadership Training) Debbie Hall, CFO for IMPD, presented a contract with Armstrong Consulting to provide leadership training for IMPD command staff and first-line supervisors/mid-level management. The training will consist of one 4-hour session for command staff and two 4-hour sessions for frontline supervisors, scheduled for September 22–23, 2025. Topics include strategic decision-making, community engagement, people-first decision-making, and reform implementation. Deputy Chief Terry noted that the training draws from Chief Armstrong’s experience in Ferguson, Missouri, post-Michael Brown. Board members asked about the training’s focus on police-community tensions, particularly with Black and brown communities, and received assurances that the curriculum addresses those issues. The contract cost was described as reasonable compared to sending staff to out-of-state trainings.

Items 080625B–080625F – CVIPI Grant Sub-Recipients (Non-Fatal Shooting Program) Alexis Webster, Assistant CFO for IMPD, presented five contracts that continue services from the previous ARPA-funded non-fatal shooting program under the new CVIPI grant. The contracts are:

• 080625B: IU Health Methodist Hospital – $146,250 over three years for mental health services for victims of non-fatal shootings and their families.
• 080625C: Inner Beauty Program – services for young women (ages 15–35, located in Lawrence/NE side).
• 080625D: Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church (Pastor Webster’s boot camp) – services for men.
• 080625E: Eskenazi Health – food access services.
• 080625F: Voices Inc – youth services (ages 13–24, both genders).

Discussion centered on whether post-incident treatment qualifies as crime prevention. Some board members expressed concern that funding treatment reduces the pool for true prevention. Webster and Hall argued that addressing mental health and underlying factors (e.g., retaliation, trauma) is integral to preventing future violence. Board members noted age gaps (younger men and older women not served) and called for expansion to organizations like Ladies Under Construction. They also urged better coordination and data sharing among IMPD, OPHS, and the Indianapolis Public Safety Foundation. Webster committed to sharing quarterly data on outcomes.

Key Outcomes

• Item 080625A (Armstrong Consulting) was approved unanimously.
• Items 080625B–F were each approved unanimously:
  • 080625B: IU Health Methodist Hospital
  • 080625C: Inner Beauty Program
  • 080625D: Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church
  • 080625E: Eskenazi Health
  • 080625F: Voices Inc
• The board requested quarterly data sharing on the CVIPI grant’s progress and outcomes.
• No further action; meeting adjourned.