13 WTHR - Indianapolis News |Missing persons case prompts review at Lawrence PD

Missing persons case prompts review at Lawrence PD

Lawrence - What started out as a missing persons case is now a system-wide review of how unidentified people are arrested, locked up and under what name. 13 Investigates was tipped off to the case of a missing local refugee who suffered in jailed silence. Now there is a call for racial sensitivity training for Lawrence Police.

Earlier this month, a vulnerable 42-year-old Asian refugee with mental and medical disabilities went missing from a relative's Indianapolis home for 35 hours earlier.

"He's only been in the country a few months, but he also has a traumatic brain injury and some psychological issues induced by trauma," said Samantha Briggs, program director at Exodus Refugee Immigration, Inc.

But as the Exodus Refugee Immigration Center and IMPD's missing person's unit frantically searched, the man they were looking for was in custody, arrested for public intoxication and being called a name that the Lawrence Police Department now regrets.

"Jackie Chan," said Briggs. "That's what he had on him," she revealed.

The release slip from Marion County's Arrestee Processing Center shows that the man was booked into the lock-up as "Jackie Chan." (His real name must be kept confidential.) The Sheriff's Department said the officer made it up and listed it on an internal report obtained by 13 Investigates.

Staff at Exodus were horrified. Its director, Carleen Miller, circulated an email saying, "he was listed on the police report as Jackie Chang [sic]. Not only is this an indication of racial prejudice but it made impossible for IMPD to find him as a missing John Doe."

The Sheriff's Department says they told the officer they needed a name, but tells 13 Investigates they would have accepted "John Doe."

"I can't be mad at the officer if APC says, 'I can't take John Doe, make a name up,' and he makes up Jackie Chan. I don't think that's very discriminatory," said Deputy Chief Dan Gliszczynski, Lawrence Police.

But in an email sent department-wide in Lawrence, Jim Parish admonishes officers: "Report and use the name 'John Doe' for the arrestee. Please do not use any names that may become controversial or discriminating."

The deputy chief sent out one of his own advising officers to use the term "Asian" in its reporting.

"We don't want to offend nobody [sic], and I don't think when he used the word 'oriental' he tried to offend them," said Gliszczynski.

"It's maybe a start. I think there needs to be training in the system," said an unsatisfied Briggs.

According to the Sheriff's Department, the refugee was released after nine hours in the lock-up. An anonymous person alerted IMPD to his whereabouts later that evening.

The Deputy Chief at Lawrence says the arresting officer is a two-year rookie who should have known better. Exodus says it hopes to meet with local law enforcement to discuss solutions.