Gary Police Department

The Gary Police Department services the City of Gary, Indiana. The current police chief is Lawrence Wright.

History

The Gary Police Department started in 1906 shortly after U.S. Steel laid out a new town; the department consisted of a town marshal and a few deputy marshals. The first arrest was made November 3, 1906 with the charges of assault and battery.

The first official Police Department was organized in 1909 shortly after Gary became a city. Joe Martin was appointed the first Police Chief with seven sworn officers under his command.

Throughout the years the department had a steady growth reaching at its peak a number of 427 officers in the early 1960s, but with a decline of population the department is now at the current strength of 296 officers.

Dispatch and communications systems

During the early 20th century, the Gary Police Department had only simple "police" whistles for communication between officers who were "walking" their beats. "Call boxes" were located throughout the city, primarily at major intersections, and commercial areas and markets. After the Great War (WWI), until the early 1970s, the City of Gary was a thriving example of success. As such, during this period, it had one of the best equipped departments in the world. "Radio" cars were available since the early 30's, and some two-way radio cars were known to have been in service before 1940. Before Gary's financial troubles, the department was one of the first in the nation to have information data terminals (Computer screens) in its patrol cars. Hand-held radios called "bricks" or sometimes "blocks" were also introduced.

However, as the city's financial and political troubles worsened, so did all of its equipment and facilities. The radio dispatch system, once the nations most modern, had become ancient and sometimes unreliable. When the equipment was put online in the middle of the century, it was state of the art. By the late 1980s, the system had become a combination of the original equipment, used replacement parts, and even different used equipment "made to work" together.

Once casino revenues began to supplement the departments budget at the turn of the century, allowing a new police station to be established on a remodelled hospital, it was decided to slowly upgrade the communications equipment. Chief Watson, recommended a complete replacement of the equipment when he took over the station, but was turned down by the city, as being cost prohibitive. When Watson was able to secure a federal grant to fund the entire project, the city still refused. It was later learned that the city officials refused to "change" the older system due to lucrative maintenance contracts, and certain city employees kept in place by using the almost extinct system. Eventually, federal, and state mandates forced the city to finally modernize its system, but now at a much greater extent due to the federal grant not being available to the city any longer.

As the new police facility was being remodelled, and new state of the art dispatch and communications center was being established. Several companies wanting to showcase their wares donated services and equipment to the city which helped keep costs down. Once online, the new system was still very much a work in progress. Gang intelligence, and Warrant databases were incorporated, as well as the Fire and Medical services. The new system, much needed, was completely foreign to those used to the former system and took time to get online. Once the new station was in place, the older system was kept as a back-up due to cost saving measures. By the time Chief Watson resigned, the old system was almost completely replaced, as a the requirement for a back-up system was met by utilizing the departments new Mobile Command Center, and the "NEXTEL" cell-phone network which had a phone issued to all members of the department. In the early 21st century, the last of the city's "Call-Boxes" were removed, and the lucrative contract to maintain the system was cancelled, though it was unknown whether the call boxes still functioned or not, as they were wired to the old station at 1301 Broadway which had been demolished some years earlier.

Once again, the city's once state of the art system is falling into disrepair, as the Clay administration prefers to provide only minimal support, which often means the use of used or non-interoperable equipment being force to work with the original new system. To make matters worse, the city's dispatch center had been completely offline twice since the spring of 2007. The main dispatch center is vital to dispatch operations, as there are no longer any contingencies availabable to the department. The original contingency plan for a main center failure was to use the Mobile Command Center, but that was destroyed in a mysterious fire (As well as the departments SWAT vehicle and equipment), and there has never been a replacement ordered. The next step would have been to use the city issued NEXTEL cell phones, but almost all of those phones had been taken away from the department and reissued to the police reserve, other city officials, as well as distributed as political patronage by the Clay administration. With the "old" system dismantled in 2005, the city effectively has no ability to communicate with any of its deployed resources if the center "goes down" for any reason. The majority of marked patrol cars do not have a second radio installed either, and the primary radio only has GPD frequencies, so switching to the "County" or "ILEEN" is not an option either.

Throughout the history of the department, positions filled by patroge "cronies" has always been a problem, but the communications center has been much harder hit by this during the Clay administration. All hires since the Clay administration have been for patronage, and the professionalism of these new dispatchers has fallen dramatically. Though some have been fired due to criminal activity, none have men any disciplinary actions due to sleeping, failing to provide critical information, unprofessionalism when answering calls for help, and general incompetence. Several officers use the "car to car" channels during "hot" calls due to dispatch shortcomings, which some say led to the vehicle accident in which Patrolman Ben Wilcher was killed.

It should be noted, that despite its many problems, the GPD dispatch still has many dedicated men and women working hard all day everyday, usually compensating for the many who are not.

Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy

At the end of the 20th Century, most police officers in the state of Indiana were trained and certified at the Indiana Law Enforcement Academy in Plainfield, Indiana. During the late 1970s and throughout the 80's, crime all over the nation began to change due to he violence and organization of gangs, and spread of the drug epidemic. As northwest Indiana (known statewide as the "region")is known for is urbanized and industrial environment, so to was it known for its drugs, prostitution, gangs, and all ills associated with urban blight. The rest of the state, even its urban areas, were much more agragarian or rural minded. Police recruits arriving at GPD (or any other department in the "region")fresh from the police academy "down state", found themselves poorly prepared for their unique work atmosphere. Chiefs, and Mayors all around the "region" lobbied hard to create a separate academy located in the region itself. Authorization and funding was provided, though not no where near the amount expected.

The academy itself is more of an entity than a facility. Originally located in regional police departments, the Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy has no actual home. For years it has operated off of the Indiana University Northwest campus. IUN had acquired several properties around its campus for expansion, and one of the buildings, once a former clothier, then nightclub and a disco, then finally an actual "crack house", was spared demolition and allowed to be used exclusively by NILEA. The facility itself is rather spartan, and somewhat unsuited for anything more than a classroom or storage environment. However, much of the training that recruits must receive involves actual firearms and various weapons (lethal and less lethal), alcohol, animals, and other activities that the university desires to keep off its main campus, so the NILEA building, or training center, fills a major if not an exclusive role for the academy. The university gymnasium (Savahnna Center), and classroom building (Raintree) have both temporary and exclusive offices and rooms for the academy's use. Though IUN considers NILEA recruits guests, and offers little benefit to recruits when compared to its own students, after the program became successful the university began to embrace the academy and recruits more and more.

Gary Martin, an IUN professor, and NILEA instructor (and retired Gary Police officer) lobbied hard to get IUN to recognize the NILEA curriculum, and as such, IUN granted a 1 year window for officers to enroll in the university to get nearly one years worth of credit towards a degree. Unfortunately, Gary Martin, who was also a Lake County Sheriff's Chief Deputy, was killed while riding his bicycle for a fundraiser for fallen officers families.

Dan Daley was a longtime Director of the academy, and held in high regard by graduates, and instructors, and even the regions officers who graduated elsewhere. Many found the academy under Daley's guidance to be far more effective, and even efficient than the "down state" academy in Plainfield. In 2006, only weeks into the class 06-14, Dan Daley was abruptly terminated by NILEA's board of directors. The reason was that he had mismanaged finances, though it was commonly believed that he sought the termination of a well connected administrator due to her lack of performance. It is not a secret that the attractive administrator has had romantic relations with several members of the board of directors, and believed that those relationships is what caused Daley's actual termination, as no "official" report had ever been made against Daley. After his termination, the administrator was given a pay raise, vehicle allowance, and an assistant. Many of the full time instructors that Daley had recruited, were fired by the new director. As a consequence, many of the officers who assisted the academy (both volunteer and paid) refused to continue assisting the academy.

The class 06-14 had experienced a record amount of "down-time" and instructor cancellations, as many officers in the region respected Daley and "left the academy hanging" at the last minute as a sign of protest. Upon their graduation, 06-14, who had only experienced 6 of their 18 weeks under Daley and many of his staff, they requested that Daley speak and his former instructors speak at their graduation. Daley refused as he felt he would distract attention away from the class on their "big" day. One of the speakers, Sgt Jeff Gang (Griffith Police) read message from Daley, which informed the officers that his termination hopefully taught them a valuable lesson in "political" meddling in police affairs. The class invited its instructors, past and present, as well as Daley to its graduation. Steele, the academy's administration, and the board of directors were not. This is significant as all previous classes had invited these people. As such, many of the graduates have experienced political isolation or retribution once back at their respected departments. Steele would be replaced after this class graduated as he was highly unpopular with all persons involved. Also, academy expenses increased dramatically, as certified trainers refused to work for the low pay ($25.00 for a 4 hour block of instruction). It was also rumored that Daley was fired because he was paying instructors for 8 hours of instruction though they were actually providing only 4. In any case, 4 hours of instruction now pays $50.

Recruits do not reside at NILEA, as there are no facilities, and any recruit in the region would have less than an hour commute anyway. Most field training takes place away from the campus, though on occasion is held in parking areas on campus. The Hammond and Griffith P.D.'s shooting ranges, and Schereville P.D.'s gym are commonly used. Recruits travel to ILEA in Plainfield for what is jokingly referred to as a "field trip" or "vacation" for one week for the emergency vehicle operations training.

The academy benefits the region most by allowing the regions officer to receive more in depth training in the types of criminal activity they are most likely to witness. Where ILEA in rural Plainfield, IN would need to use pictures or simulations of "chop-shops", "crack-houses", or gang activity, actual examples are available to the academy nearby. One complaint GPD had about ILEA was that during the organized crime training, the main instructor was from a very rural area, and had never met an actual gang member. Also, there was more training involving gangsters from the '1920's" than contemporary gangs, and almost no training at all as to how gang culture works. At NILEA, instruction in Gangs is so vital and in depth, most graduates can read or interpret gang graffiti.

Recent Department Chiefs

Chief Watson

The transition from rogue department to a professional department occurred largely under the direction of Chief Watson. Watson assumed his position as head of the Gary Police Department during the administration of Mayor Scott King. Chief Watson inherited a department that was housed in a grossly overcrowded, and a decrepit station house at 1301 Broadway which had actually been condemned years earlier. The patrol fleet was in such bad shape that nearly every patrol car had over 100,000 miles on it; some cars required that a spare tire or a 2x4 be placed behind the front seat to prop it upright, and a few even had holes in the floor boards. There had not been a fair promotion process in decades, and no real uniform system of operating procedures. In short, his department was operated by edict, suffered from poor morale due to cronyism and favoritism, horrible equipment shortages, and some of the lowest pay in all of law enforcement (about $19,000 per year for a patrolman, and no overtime). If that was not enough, the city's crime rate was appalling, the city was the nation's "murder capital" more years than it wasn't, and corruption was rampant throughout the department.

Watson was chief of the Department for several years, and was able to institute and develop many changes that brought the department into the 21st century. The department moved into its new facility (known as the Public Safety Building, and housing several other city offices) at 555 Polk St. Also, Chief Watson expanded and dramatically improved the patrol fleet. Marked and unmarked units were modernized, and he helped create a much more standardized system of maintenance that allowed vehicles to be repaired faster, and without regard to whom they were was assigned. Equipment was also much improved, as funds from the newly established riverboat casinos became available. The communications and dispatch systems began a process of upgrading to the most modern technology available, and even the patrol cars began to be equipped with MDTs (laptop computers). A transition from Beretta style sidearms to the Glock 22 and 23 series also began.

During the Mayor King administration, Chief Watson successfully lobbied to have the residency requirement for new police recruits lifted. The years before this occurred, the GPD suffered from manpower shortages due to an inability to attract recruits. During his tenure as Chief, several large recruit classes were added to the ranks, many from the newly established Northwest Indiana Law Enforcement Academy. What was originally a process of patronage before his arrival became one of the fairest hiring processes for police officers in the nation. After completing and competing in a series of tests and exams, recruits were selected from the top of a list on down. Pay was dramatically increased, nearly doubling during his time as chief (though a statewide minimum was established to help this, largely due to the extremely low pay of the GPD itself).

In the spring of 2006, Chief Watson abruptly resigned. Mayor Scott King also resigned abruptly a few weeks later, and it is largely believed that Mayor King forewarned Watson so he would not be blindsided by King's quick departure. Chief Watson was hired from outside of the department, which in itself is a rare move. As such, Chief Watson had no political allegiances and likely would not have survived a city administration change. To this day, Chief Watson's legacy at the department and to those who served under him is mixed. Many found his administration detached and cold. Others simply disliked him as he was one of the few chiefs to ever hand out suspensions. However, he was chief for years and fired far fewer officers than any chief before or since. The fair promotion and hiring processes are much appreciated, as well as his decisions to promote based on productivity and professionalism instead of political connections, nepotism, and race.

Acting Chiefs

After Chief Watson's departure, several acting chiefs administered the department for several months during the summer of 2006. This period was artificially longer than what it would normally be due to the mayoral situation that also consisted of interim and acting mayors. Chief Kumoreck, largely recognized as a competent replacement, was chief for only few days. The city of Gary is over 80% black, and as Kumoreck was white and also an "unconnected" outsider, he was quickly replaced by a junior commander, Alpha Stewart.

Acting Chief Stewart's tenure was brief but memorable for several reasons. First, she was the first female to command the department, though only temporarily. Several events occurred during her watch, such as the annual Gary Air Show, which was a success. However, most will remember Chief Stewart's many edicts and "revenge" transfers. A new directive issued by the (acting) chief's office was made nearly every day. Officers who were not in favor of Chief Stewart were transferred several times in a week, had assigned vehicles taken away, or changed and then changed back. An environment of "tattle tales" and "playground bullying" seemed to infect the station overnight. Only after the mayoral situation stabilized did things seem to relax around the GPD.

When Rudy Clay became Interim Mayor, (acting) Chief Stewart actively lobbied for the top-cop job at GPD, but her actions while at the department's helm did not sit well with the Clay political machine. She would be replaced shortly after he took over.

Chief Brannon

Shortly after taking control as Interim Mayor, Rudy Clay chose Chief Brannon as Watson's successor. After months without one, GPD finally had an official chief again. Chief Brannon was a popular commander of various divisions and sections, and was highly regarded by the rank and file of the department. His first weeks in office had showed signs of positive steps for the department, as a large order of newer patrol cars were made, training and schools were made available, and promotion exams were finally moving forward again.

However, Chief Brannon would eventually become what most considered an empty suit. He was nearing retirement, and unwilling or unable to stop interference or micromanaging from the mayor's office. Chief Brannon's tenure is often considered a bad one. The department's Patrol Division was issued orders to NOT patrol or even drive on the interstate highways unless given permission from senior supervisors. Several times during Brannon's administration, the Indiana State Police requested assistance, but the GPD patrol division was told only to assist if they were on the ramp. GPD officers routinely disobeyed these orders and were threatened with punishment, but none ever were (though petty punishments such as transfers or shift changes were certainly meted out). Brannon's position on working with the state police may have originated for one of two reasons. Either he (like many older GPD officers) held a grudge against the state police due to that agency's fruitless expedition into Gary in the '90s, or he considered the interstates to be a "non-Gary" problem.

Patrol officers were also told to immediately terminate all vehicle pursuits for the sake of public safety. This was followed by Brannon's command staff issuing a public announcement openly notifying the public to notify the department's Internal Affairs if any officer violated this procedure. This had the effect of encouraging hundreds of violators and suspects to flee in vehicles, causing even more accidents than those caused by police pursuits. Overreaching supervisors even terminated "foot" pursuits as well.

The patrol division, which was severely handicapped, unmotivated, and suffering a purge on its proactive officers, became an exclusively responsive report-taking force during the Brannon administration.

To further exacerbate the problems, the "petty revenge" antics from the Stewart administration continued, only becoming more commonplace. Also, it was not uncommon for Chief Brannon to defer command decisions to his subordinates. Many officers were shocked that this once assertive and respected leader had to clear his decisions with much less experienced, ranker personnel. Many times, the Chief was heard saying a certain action sounded good, but that he would have to clear it with a particular person first.

More often than not, the person Chief Brannon was "clearing" his decisions with was Patrol Commander Stanley. Stanley himself was a once highly regarded supervisor, and one of the most respected officers in the department. As a Sergeant, regardless of whatever division he was in at the time, officers would seek his guidance and advice. However, once he was promoted to Commander of Patrol by Brannon, he too changed. It was soon discovered that inasmuch as Brannon was an "empty suit" running out the retirement clock, Stanley was the person running the department.

By spring the following year, Chief Brannon's department had reverted back to its former self. Mayor Clay, himself largely responsible for much of the department's woes, had become nationally embarrassed by the city's high murder rate. The year 2006 began much lower than expected, but by autumn the number of murders had climbed higher than the year before. Spring of '07 saw numbers higher than ever. Though nowhere near a pro-law enforcement administrator, Mayor Clay disliked public embarrassment, and ordered Chief Brannon to replace Commander Stanley. Brannon refused and was told to resign. Chief Brannon took his early retirement package and left the station with little notice, except for many administration cronies who were worried about what would happen to them.

Commander Stanley was placed back into the department's Traffic Division, as a supervisor.

Weed and Seed corruption

Only after they were replaced was it discovered that during the Stewart and Brannon tenures, federal grant money was kept a secret from the rest of the department, so only certain (connected) persons would be entitled to work for the grant money. This was significant as it occurred after the department's pay raises and overtime were cut. It was rumored that only certain people would work the federal grant program; they would write the subsequent "citations" and activity sheets needed to verify the time worked, but would not fill out the personal information on the paperwork itself. Then when the paperwork was turned in, those in charge would finish filling out the paperwork for other more connected persons so they could get the grant money as well. Those who did all the work did so to ensure that they would be able to get the grant money paycheck, giving little regard to those who got checks for their hard work. It was guaranteed overtime at a time when there was no overtime pay for anyone else. Only after the Brannon tenure was this discovered, and the following administration opened "weed and seed" to the rank and file. The effect was not just higher morale due to the overtime pay, but the city itself benefited from having dozens of additional officers on the street instead of one or two for the same grant.

Chief Houston

When Rudy Clay first took over as Interim Mayor for the city of Gary, there were rumors that Lt. Thomas Houston would be made chief.Fact|date=July 2008 Houston himself said openly that if he were asked to be chief, he would accept. Mayor Clay's political machine does not operate in that manner, as there were literally dozens of people begging for the $100k a year job. Clay wanted a yes man, and got one in Chief Brannon.Fact|date=July 2008 But with an ineffective police force, out of control murders and crime, Clay had to make a tough choice. Put in a strong chief, and then let him do his job.

Lt. Houston was promoted to chief just as the summer months arrived, with the accompanying rising murder rate. During his first month as chief, the city had 15 murders. Within a few weeks, Houston completely changed the environment at the department.Fact|date=July 2008 Politically connected officers were replaced by productive officers. Overtime returned, though still much reduced from what it was when Watson was chief. Nearly every order and memo issued in the previous year was rescinded. The promotion processes were restored to their earlier unbiased structure.

One of Chief Houston's most controversial changes was the creation of a full-time SWAT team. In actuality, the full-time "team" is really more of a strike-patrol-intelligence team composed of SWAT team members. When first established, the idea was ridiculed by manyWho|date=July 2008 on the department, especially those officers who were politically connected but no longer receiving preferential treatment. It was saidWho|date=July 2008 the full-time SWAT team would waste resources, but as it turns out, it made much better use of the GPD's limited resources than any other unit or system set up in the last fifty years.Fact|date=July 2008 The Aviation, marine, GREAT, and PMB units are well known for being stacked with those in political favor, and even better known for their limited use, visibility and effectiveness. The officers attached to the full-time SWAT team are assigned cars, but most were assigned cars anyway, and many gave up better cars to be in the more uniformed models they drive now—former marked 2003 models with a push bar, but with the decals removed. The majority of the officers were taken from the patrol division, but since the full-time SWAT team is essentially a proactive only patrol unit, the effect on daily patrols has actually been much more positive than what its critics would like to admit.Fact|date=July 2008 Chief Houston also received complaints about the full-time SWAT because it had so few black team members. Initially, this was true. The full-time SWAT team required a qualification test, but was open only to the already existing SWAT team members. After Houston took over, the conventional response SWAT team was also overhauled, eliminating many of the older members who were assigned through political connections, with much more deserving and capable officers. After the new SWAT members were added, the full-time SWAT team was also able to not only recruit more black officers, but expand to a larger team as well. Though the full-time SWAT unit took almost a dozen officers from the patrol division, these officers are still on patrol, and are much more productive, as they are not sidetracked by taking reports or other response-only patrol duties. Chief Houston had been a Gary police officer for over forty years. He had been a police officer before some of the department's current officer's parents were in school. As such, he is well known, though not always well liked. The rank and file, hard working and professional part of the GPD respected him and flourished while he was Chief. This is evident in the high morale the department had and the dramatically lower murder rate during Houston's time in office (though still not low enough to keep Gary from having the highest murder rate per capita in the nation). He would often dissuade midnight patrol officers from late calls at the end of their shift so they could go home on time, and always had some motivating story or advice.

Officer Ben Wilcher was killed in the line of duty in a vehicle accident while Houston was chief, and a reserve officer was killed in an unusual accident while off duty at a gun range. A famous car accident on Chase Street which killed two young men was a major controversy during his watch as well. Chief Houston stood by his officers when two men were allegedly thrown from a vehicle driven by their friend after leaving a drinking party. Officers did not find the bodies of the men, but they were located the next morning by the men's parents. Many called for Houston to be fired as well as the officers involved, but the department not only followed its procedures and was cleared of any negligence, but during the investigation it was learned that the surviving men and families were not completely honest in dealing with the police.

Chief Houston's Deputy Chief was the well known and respected Lt. Branson, known as Bronson on the street. The Gary Police Department, for the first time in its modern history, had a fully capable command staff. The best people were finally in the right jobs. For over a year, morale was high, crime was down and things were moving forward. In fact, the only issues that were not largely improved during the Houston tenure were the Police Reserve, police vehicle fleet, and hiring issues. Mayor Clay refused to allow Chief Houston to properly manage the vehicle fleet, as many of the department's marked and unmarked cars are used for Mayor Clay's patronage. Several times during the winter of 2007-08, there were vehicle shortages due to damaged and wrecked vehicles, or vehicles needing repairs the city could not afford to make. Each time Chief Houston attempted to take newer 2006, '07, and '08 vehicles from city administrators or reserve police officers, the mayor stopped him.

Also, the department's hiring process was altered for the first time since the Watson was chief. There was already a list of people from the last hiring process held when Brannon first took over. Over 600 applicants tested, with fewer than 150 scoring high enough or passing all the requirements put into place to become a Gary police officer. Instead of hiring from the top of the list, Chief Houston was forced to hire only Gary residents. Of the nine people hired, none were from the top half of the list. Two had a history of being witnesses to various shootings and murders, and several could not pass the PERF pension physical—at least one because of the drug screening. Furthermore, those selected were not even at the top of the list as Gary residents. All nine of the new recruits had connections to elected or appointed officials at City Hall.Fact|date=July 2008 Despite his protests, Chief Houston hired the recruits.

The reserve police issue has long been a hot debate, and Chief Houston, like all those before him, could do little to bring the reserve under control or oversight.Fact|date=July 2008

In early 2008, Chief Houston, Deputy Chief Branson, and Sgt. Decanter (Chief's Assistant) were all indicted by federal authorities. Shortly after Chief Houston was appointed chief, he attended a funeral and while away from home, his house was burglarized. Several witnesses observed the break-in, and before the police arrived, the burglars were gone, as were some of the Chief's valuables and his duty-issued sidearm. The suspects were found shortly thereafter by Chief Branson and Decanter, resisted arrest and were apprehended. Though few details have yet been released, the federal government made various charges of civil rights violations against the three men. These charges are still pending, but due to the indictment, Chief Houston retired, and Deputy Chief Branson was returned to the rank of Lieutenant and transferred back to the detective division.

Chief Wright

Commander Wright was Chief Houston's Patrol Division Commander, and being the highest ranking department officer NOT indicted, he was promoted to interim chief by Mayor Clay. The day of the announcement of the "interim" appointment, Mayor Clay appeared ill and was very brief in his statements. He was usually a very articulate speaker, and it was rumored that while he was making the announcement at the Public Safety Facility, Mayor Clay's homes in Gary and Ogden Dunes were being raided by federal agents. Though not confirmed, these rumors have never been denied. Federal agents have also made several arrests, and questioned many more members of the police reserve. Clay stated that Wright would have six months, and that he would make his final decision at that time. Until late June of 2008, Wright made few changes at the department. At that time, he had made many transfers, and began to restructure parts of the department. Most of these changes were in process while Houston was chief, but as the patrol commander, Wright was going to request these changes anyway; his becoming chief just made the transfers easier.

In response to the cost of fuel, and smaller maintenance budgets, Chief Wright eliminated the take-home policy of the majority of patrol cars, marked and unmarked. Only those positions deemed critical, and only officers on call 24 hours a day would be allowed to keep their take-home vehicles. This would have saved the city at least $10,000 and possibly much more. Unfortunately, Chief Wright's decision was overruled by Mayor Clay, as many of the vehicles that would be left at the station were the take-homes of his patrons, who do not answer calls 24 hours, or indeed have critical jobs. The mayor did state that he would allow Wright to take away cars as long as they were not on the list provided to his office, and the list was subject to change daily. Furthermore, Wright was informed that the only new cars the department would receive would all remain unmarked, and that older vehicles would be made available about a month after the new cars were delivered.

Chief Wright's position remains uncertain, and he is a few years away from retirement. If the Mayor decides to appoint a different chief, then Chief Wright will probably be reassigned into the ranks as a lieutenant.

Wright himself, like Houston, is more popular with the rank and file of the department than with those in political circles. He is considered approachable, and much of his time that is not taken up by administrative duties is spent wandering the station, local training, or crime scenes. Wright is always ready to offer guidance, and eager to act as a mentor to younger and less experienced officers by giving passive suggestions and advice. Seldom critical, though entertainingly constructively critical, Chief Wright is one of the department's greatest opponents of supervisor micromanagement.

External References

* [http://www.gary.in.us/police/ Gary Police Department]