Joint Statement of Mayor Svante Myrick and Chief John Barber:
We undoubtedly wish that this incident had proceeded differently, and in particular
that all officers involved had been in uniform and marked IPD vehicles. That is why
we have met with the involved families, and the broader community, in an effort to
address their concerns. We have also taken bold new steps to deliver excellence in
policing, from body cameras to a forthcoming Community Action Team, from a
Community Outreach Worker to increased staffing.
Nonetheless, this lawsuit is an expression of understandable frustration through an
entirely meritless lawsuit. The stop was legal, justified, and entirely race-neutral, as
indicated by the City’s internal review of this incident.
Unidentified young men fled uniformed officers in marked IPD vehicles—lights
flashing—in the vicinity of two burning cars; arsons that remain unsolved a year
later. IPD was on the lookout for anyone who returned to the scene because
arsonists tend to return to the scenes of fires they have set. As these young men
fled the police—first on bike and then on foot—they evaded marked IPD vehicles,
but not the vehicle of IPD Sergeant Norman, who had been called in from off-duty,
out of uniform in his personal vehicle.
The City will vigorously defend this lawsuit, and is confident that the courts will
award no damages against the City for doing its job: investigating, through its
officers, serious car arsons on the night of August 9, 2014.