Bill would increase vandalism penalties
Elevates rioting charge, fines cities over statues
NIKI KELLY | The Journal Gazette
INDIANAPOLIS – State lawmakers are taking a stand against destruction or vandalism to public monuments or statues – increasing the criminal penalty and taking money from cities or other units of government that fail to protect the memorials.
The House Courts and Criminal Code Committee significantly amended a bill Wednesday and then passed it 9-3, with Democrats opposed.
The move comes after several monuments and memorials were damaged – or even torn down – during protests and riots last year. In Fort Wayne, messages saying “Quit Pigs” and “BLM” were spray painted on the Police and Firefighters Memorial.
Tippecanoe County leading the state on High Tech Crimes Unit bill
HB 1082 would create funding for 10 regional High Tech Crime Units. Tippecanoe County had the first prosecutor-run HTCU in the state.
Posted: Feb 2, 2021 9:37 PM
Updated: Feb 3, 2021 9:41 AM
Posted By: Anna Darling
TIPPECANOE COUNTY, Ind. (WLFI) - Tippecanoe County is leading the way for more High Tech Crime Units to be established across the state. A bill authored by District 40 State Representative Gregory Steuerwald is currently making its way through the Indiana Statehouse. It s a game changer, it solves crimes, said Tippecanoe County Prosecutor Patrick Harrington on the units. He testified at the statehouse on behalf of the new legislation.
Indiana General Assembly considers bills to reform the police and bills to halt change Elizabeth DePompei, Indianapolis Star
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For the first time since civil unrest erupted in Indianapolis and elsewhere across the country in response to police killings of Black Americans, the Indiana legislature is considering measures that would impact policing in the state.
The deaths of George Floyd in Minneapolis, along with Dreasjon Reed and McHale Rose in Indianapolis, all at the hands of police, resulted in demands to reform policing everything from banning chokeholds to defunding police departments.
The four officers involved in Floyd s death face criminal charges. Earlier this month, the Marion County Prosecutor declined to file charges in Rose s death. And in Reed s case, a grand jury declined to indict the officer who fatally shot him.
Paul Helmke, former president of the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, agreed.
“Indiana already does too little to keep loaded guns out of public places and out of the hands of dangerous people. This bill would make us all less safe,” the former Republican mayor wrote in an email.
No license is required to buy a firearm in Indiana, but one is required for open or concealed carry. Individuals with a conviction for a felony or misdemeanor domestic battery are ineligible, and a license can also be denied in other prescribed situations.
HB 1396 is one of four so-called “constitutional carry” bills proposed by the Republican supermajority, but this one is authored by Auburn Republican Ben Smaltz and co-authored by Rep. Matt Lehman, R-Berne, two powerful members of the House majority. Smaltz is chairman of the House Public Policy Committee, where his bill is assigned and was scheduled to be heard Wednesday. Ironically, the session was canceled over concerns for violence sp