Appointments: Diekhoff as Bloomington police chief, Kerr as fire chief means reuse of 16-year-old headline

Bloomington police chief Mike Diekhoff (January 2023)

Diekhoff, Kerr bring knowledge, commitment Bloomington Mayor Mark Kruzan has made two excel- lent selections in naming Mike Diekhoff police chief and Roger Kerr fire chief. Diekhoff had long been the apparent successor to Chief Mike Hostetler, who is retiring at the end of the year. He has been a thoughtful member of the Bloomington City Council the last nine years. He is a 20-year veteran of the Bloom- ington Police Department and Has been involved in policy matters as captain of the uniform division. He grew up in Bloomington and graduated from Bloomington High School North and Indiana University. Kerr was in the same graduating class at BHS North. He has been with the Bloomington Fire Department for 19 years and has been acting chief since September. Both men have knowledge about the community and already have made an investment in it. They should be strong leaders for Bloomington's future. Herald-Times op-ed Dec. 19, 2007

Dec. 19, 2007 Herald-Times op-ed

Bloomington interim fire chief Roger Kerr (Jan. 5, 2024)

In late 2007, Bloomington’s then-chief of police Mike Hostetler was set to retire at the end of the year.

Bloomington’s fire chief at the time was Roger Kerr, who was serving as interim chief, to fill the vacancy left by Jeff Barlow, who left for a fire chief position in Kentucky.

In mid-December of 2007, then-mayor Mark Kruzan, was finishing his fourth year of service as Bloomington’s executive, and preparing to start a second term. A Democrat, Kruzan was fresh off a municipal election victory over Republican candidate David Sabbagh.

That’s when Kruzan announced he would be appointing Kerr as permanent fire chief. At the same time, he announced he would be promoting Mike Diekhoff to police chief from his position as captain in the department.

The two appointments made for a pair of front-page headlines in the Dec. 19, 2007 edition of the Herald-Times, in a single package with an all-caps banner: NEW CHIEFS. The individual articles were headlined: “Diekhoff to lead police” and “Kerr secures fire post.”

Those are basically the same headlines that could have run in recent weeks, 16 years later.

Bloomington’s new mayor, Kerry Thomson, has re-appointed Diekhoff to serve as chief of police. And Thomson appointed Kerr to fill in as interim for fire chief Jason Moore, who resigned.

Last Friday, both men were confirmed in their respective roles as chief of police and interim-chief of the fire department by Bloomington’s board of public safety. Continue reading “Appointments: Diekhoff as Bloomington police chief, Kerr as fire chief means reuse of 16-year-old headline” →

Mayoral transition: Bloomington boards have upcoming vacancies, to be filled by city executive

In an open letter dated Nov. 9, mayor-elect Kerry Thomson made a clarion call to Bloomington residents for them to participate in city government.

people sitting around a table with two empty chairs — This art was generated by https://www.bing.com/images/create/

Thomson wrote to residents that her administration would “make it easy for them to participate in their government.”

She added: “That starts now—with you.”

Cited in Thomson’s letter as a path to participation is service on a board or commission, through a mayoral appointment.

She invites residents to apply for an seat on a board or commission.

Appointments to boards and commissions also get a mention in a Nov. 14 letter that Thomson sent to current Bloomington mayor John Hamilton.

Thomson includes such appointments in the decisions that she asks Hamilton to refrain from making in his remaining time in office (emphasis in original): “Such decisions would include, but not be limited to, signing new or extensions of contracts, purchasing or conveying property, and making future board and commission appointments.”

Most board and commission terms go through Dec. 31 or Jan. 1, which means several naturally-occurring vacancies will need to be filled. For example, two of the five mayoral appointments to the plan commission end on Jan. 1, 2023.

At least some of the mayor-appointed members of boards and commissions are described explicitly in local law as serving “at the pleasure” of the mayor—like members of the board of public works or the board of public safety.

Seats on those two boards do not have specified term lengths. There’s not a natural point in time for a mayor to swap out one of those board members, by choosing not to re-appoint them.

The request about appointments in Thomson’s letter to Hamilton is not confined to just those board members that are explicitly described in the law as serving “at the pleasure” of the mayor. Continue reading “Mayoral transition: Bloomington boards have upcoming vacancies, to be filled by city executive” →

Tasers for Bloomington police: Department prepares for pilot program on less lethal weapon

Excerpt from Sept. 12. 2023 BPD general order on use of force.

Stock photo of taser.

Bloomington board of public safety meeting, July 18, 2023.

In a Sept. 5, 2023 news release, the Bloomington police department (BPD) announced that officers would soon be piloting the use of electronic control weapons, commonly known as tasers.

For Bloomington police officers, the tasers will be added to pepper spray and collapsible batons as options that are less lethal than a gun.

On Sept. 19, at the most recent meeting of Bloomington’s five-member board of public safety, BPD deputy chief Scott Oldham said that he does not expect the tasers to be deployed for the pilot before the start of 2024. It will take some time for an officer to be certified to train other officers in the use of tasers, and then additional time to train officers, Oldham said.

While the board of public safety was briefed on the decision to add tasers to the set of less lethal options for BPD officers, the board did not have decision making authority on deployment of tasers.

Tasers were discussed with the board at its June and July monthly meetings this year.

But the board’s feedback can be traced to a year before that, when board member Isak Asare asked Bloomington police chief Mike Diekhoff about the department’s planned pilot program. Continue reading “Tasers for Bloomington police: Department prepares for pilot program on less lethal weapon” →

After lead paint fallout, Bloomington fire chief sets policy on controlled burning of a house: “We will not be doing that in the future.”

Another controlled burning of an “acquired structure” like the house at 1213 High Street on Bloomington’s east side will not take place while Jason Moore is the city’s fire chief.

In this B Square file photo from July of 2021, fire chief Jason Moore addresses the new class of firefighter recruits.

Burning the High Street house to the ground on Friday Nov. 5—after three previous days of live fire training inside the house—caused a plume of lead-based paint chips and ash to cover a portion of the neighborhood to the west.

At Tuesday’s regular meeting of Bloomington’s board of public safety, Moore described the balance of benefits from the training compared to the risk. “We did receive some very valuable training out of this, but it’s not worth the risk,” Moore said.

The fire chief continued, “So I can assure everyone that as the chief of the department, we will not be doing that in the future.”

Immediately after the conflagration caused the lead-contaminated plume to settle on his neighborhood, councilmember Dave Rollo started mulling city legislation against such training fires.

On Tuesday, Moore addressed those city councilmembers, including Rollo, who were tuned in for the board of public safety meeting, which was held as a Zoom video-conference. “With or without that legislation, I can assure you that we do not intend to conduct another controlled burning in an acquired structure again,” Moore said.

The board’s Tuesday meeting was also a chance for Moore to give some updates on the extent of the hazard, progress on the clean up, the cost of the work, and some specific direction to residents.

Some of the information provided by Moore at Tuesday’s board meeting was included in a Monday news release or on a page on the city’s website dedicated to the lead ash fallout from the Nov. 5 controlled burn on High Street. Continue reading “After lead paint fallout, Bloomington fire chief sets policy on controlled burning of a house: “We will not be doing that in the future.”” →

Initial thoughts on policing from public to Bloomington city council committee: Sell Bearcat armored vehicle; re-open Joseph Smedley case

A meeting held last Thursday by Bloomington city council’s four-member public safety committee got some initial comments from the public on the topic of policing in the city.

Opening remarks from committee chair Jim Sims included the statement: “We are here to listen to you, the public.” Sims wrapped up his remarks by saying, “A deeper look into the local law enforcement operations is warranted. We just know that tonight we are here, and we need to listen.”

Sims indicated there would likely be additional such meetings.

During public comment at the committee meeting, an appeal to sell the Bloomington police department’s (BPD’s) Bearcat armored vehicle—purchased two years ago for $225,000—came from a dozen different commenters. They want the proceeds to be spent on social services.

That echoed the call from Black Lives Matter (BLM) B-town Core Council to sell the Bearcat and defund the police made during a June 6 Facebook event.

Others called for the re-opening of the Joseph Smedley case from 2015. An event listed on Facebook, held a year after the 20-year-old’s death, described the case: “In the fall of 2015, a young Black student, Joseph Smedley, went missing and was later found dead in Griffy Lake. The overall lack of appropriate response…left many Black students and folks in the neighboring community feeling as if their lives did not matter.” Continue reading “Initial thoughts on policing from public to Bloomington city council committee: Sell Bearcat armored vehicle; re-open Joseph Smedley case” →