Friends,
Nothing is more fundamental to city government than assuring and protecting the safety of our public. Bloomington is exceptionally well served by our public safety professionals.
The resident-led Board of Public Safety that oversees our police and fire departments has since 2016 comprised 100% women and people of color, to help assure diverse perspectives are embodied in our public safety policies and programs. This board coordinated a deep review of policing practices in light of standards like the 21st Century Policing and 8 Can't Wait resources.
We have embraced transparency. Since 2017 we’ve provided an annual report on the State of Public Safety every February to share data and statistics. Every month our public safety board reviews performance. Monthly internal meetings coordinate among police, fire and community and family resources departments to assure alignment.
Our community and city council strongly support public safety. In 2016 we enacted a Public Safety Local Income Tax to fund critical county-wide investments in 911-dispatch and police and fire equipment and staffing. In 2022 we passed an Economic Development Local Income Tax that in part further supports better public safety pay and facilities. (And federal pandemic relief has been essential too.)
In addition, this funding let us purchase the Showers Building west side to create a state-of-the-art shared police headquarters and fire administration facility, positioning us for even greater coordination and improvements. The funding also supports unprecedented housing support -- $750/month rental subsidies and $100k forgivable down-payment assistance to help police officers and firefighters live in the city they serve.
We embrace innovation and reform. Our police department was among the first in the state to adopt body-worn cameras. We were the first in the state to embed social workers in our department and have just added one to 911-dispatch as well. We’ve established Downtown Resource Officers and Community Service Specialists to expand beyond what traditional officers do. We’ve established a special taskforce to address gun violence, embraced technology and federal partnerships to solve gun crimes, and added a new neighborhood grant program to strengthen grass-roots efforts.
Our fire department introduced a smaller, more nimble Squad Car team of two firefighters to respond to some medical calls (replacing four-person fire engine responses), and developed a Mobile Integrated Health team of health professionals to deal with chronic 911 callers more proactively.
Both police and fire personnel are extensively trained, far beyond state requirements, to be highly skilled, to de-escalate, and to prevent problems before they occur. We’re just finishing a review of our 911-dispatch protocols, to find better ways to respond to emergencies – reducing demand on sworn personnel and delivering more effective responses to events like mental health or family crises.
And you should know, we are the ONLY community in Indiana with a nationally accredited (CALEA) police department, and a nationally top-ranked (ISO Class 1) fire department. I’m very proud that our very progressive Bloomington so strongly supports, and is so well served by, simply outstanding public safety departments.
All this makes a difference. Our overall crime rate continues to decline (though gun violence is rising, tragically). Our fire department has cut the fire fatality rate by 90% and saved nearly a dozen lives from fires in the past several years.
When you see one of the 300+ members of our (union-represented) public safety departments, I hope you will thank them for their service, and be proud of the community’s strong support of innovative, effective public safety.
Democratically yours,
John Hamilton
P.S. Remember Democrats deliver. Our most progressive city in the state also has, in my view, the finest public safety services in the state. We believe in government and excellent services, starting with public safety. Don’t fall for political attacks – progressives in Bloomington walk the walk and invest in effective, fair, transparent, strong, and always-improving public safety services.