June 1, 2020 Open letter to Jim Brainard, mayor of Carmel, Indiana In a news release provided by the city of Carmel’s facebook page on Monday, June 1st, it was stated that the city is “planning to take action against the City of Minneapolis for negligence for the expenses incurred protecting our community as a result of the actions by police in Minneapolis.”1 I agree whole-heartedly with your sentiment that not just the officers involved, but the administration that allowed them to hold office, need to be held accountable for this injustice. However, I believe your chosen course of action does not reflect the kind of accountability that I—or likely any—of your constituents are interested in seeing from police departments nationwide. The protests that have erupted over recent events are focused on proper police training, the issue of qualified immunity, and the unfair targeting and treatment of minority groups (specifically black Americans) by law enforcement. This lawsuit implies that the Carmel Police Department is immune to these ailments. It is not. You may remember the 1997 complaint lodged against the Carmel Police Department by the NAACP on behalf of Sgt. David Smith, a black officer of the Indiana State Police Department, after he was illegally stopped by a Carmel police officer. In his words, "I think he saw a black male entering a predominantly white subdivision and he wanted to know what I was doing,"2 The city responded by reaching an out-of-court settlement with Sgt. Smith and working to ensure that all Carmel police cruisers record videos of traffic stops. In 2016, the city of Carmel reached a settlement with Carl Cooper after he filed a racial profiling suit against the Carmel Police Department.3 (Cont.) 1 https://www.facebook.com/CityofCarmel/posts/10158530415775956?__tn__=K-R 2 https://www.cbsnews.com/news/guilty-of-being-black/ 3 https://www.indystar.com/story/news/local/hamilton-county/2016/03/18/carmel-settles-black-man-racial-pr ofiling-case-involving-traffic-stop/81971534/ June 1, 2020 In 2019, an investigation by WISH-TV found that, although only ~3% of Carmel’s population is black, 33% of CPD traffic tickets were given to black drivers. Current Chief of Police Jim Barlow responded by arguing the semantic definition of “traffic ticket” and claiming that the study “failed to account for individuals who were cited for multiple violations during a single enforcement event.”4 This does a good job of demonstrating that black drivers in Carmel are more likely to receive several citations during a single stop than drivers of other ethnicities, but proves little else. Officers in the Carmel Police Department are prone to all the same racial biases that plague police departments across the country. Examples of racial profiling and racist police response are seen in all corners of the United States, including the above incidents. The idea that black lives matter goes beyond just the killing of black citizens. It relates to the unfair bias that black Americans face in the eyes of law enforcement. The accountability that Americans seek from local governments and police forces is not monetary, and will not be solved with a frivolous lawsuit. The accountability that Americans seek is equal treatment under the law for people of all creeds and colors. The above cases demonstrate that the Carmel Police Department does not meet this expectation. To pursue “damages” from the city of Minneapolis when the same underlying issues persist in our own backyard is short-sighted and disrespectful to your constituents, black and white alike. In the event that any members of the Carmel Police Department are found to exhibit similar excessive force and brutality in the future—be it ten, fifteen, or twenty years from now—your tone-deaf response to the present George Floyd tragedy will be remembered, and will serve as a stain on an otherwise positive legacy. Austin Lynch, Carmel resident of 19 years June 1, 2020 4 https://www.wishtv.com/news/carmels-own-data-supports-i-team-8-investigation/
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