INDIANAPOLIS — Police uniform badges designed to commemorate Black History Month for 60 to 70 IMPD officers aren't expected to arrive until after Feb. 1.
Community leaders and the NAACP said Black officers with IMPD created a special badge for officers to wear next month, initially approved by IMPD leadership.
Officers paid to have them ordered, but 13News was told the badges were ordered late. Now, the badges won't be here by Feb. 1, which is the start of Black History Month.
"We emphasize this because it was troubling to some people, but again, we try to fix things before they get out of hand and certainly let it be known, we are very supportive of the police department and the community," Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance Chief Legal Counsel Robert Turner said.
"With any process, things sometimes get off-kilter," acting IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said. "And to my knowledge, there was no bad intent in this process, and we are 100% supportive celebrating the contributions of our officers in February and beyond that because African American history is our history."
IMPD said the issue was with "HR approval" and that the badges needed to be verified to make sure the number is right.
The badges were offered to anyone in the force who voluntarily wanted to wear one.
IMPD provided this statement Tuesday evening:
"Each year, IMPD strives to find new ways to honor and commemorate the legacy of African American law enforcement officials and their service during Black History Month.
This year, Chief Taylor asked the Minority Police Officers Association (MPOA) for some ideas that would recognize our Black officers, detectives and investigators on the department. Chief Taylor was asked his thoughts on adding an alternate badge to recognize contributions of African American officers. The MPOA voted and agreed to move the project forward.
Chief Taylor approved a badge design that officers could purchase as an option and wear during February as an alternate to the standard IMPD badge. The badge is meant to be a reminder of the sacrifices and achievements of the city’s first African American officers, acting as a physical connection between IMPD’s history, present, and future.
As with any new and novel initiatives, there were unexpected delays that came up after an order was received. IMPD’s Human Resources had to review and verify every order to ensure an officer’s badge and rank was accurate before it was submitted. Those who purchased a badge were notified it typically would take between 6-8 weeks to cast.
As of today, a total of 88 badges have been ordered and the Indy Public Safety Foundation is working with the manufacturer to expedite the delivery.
At no point were IMPD officers told they could not wear the badge. Acting Chief Bailey and IMPD leadership have supported this badge from the beginning and look forward to it celebrating the efforts of Black officers who once were and still are part of this agency."