Donnie Burgess
Network Indiana
BEECH GROVE, Ind. — The crime in Indianapolis is spreading and hurting other communities, says Beech Grove Mayor Dennis Buckley.
“We’ve had the double shooting at Night Owls, double shooting at Silver Bullet, we had a double shooting at the Beech Grove Bowl, and someone stabbed in the face at Greatimes. All within the last two months,” says Mayor Buckley on WIBC’s Hammer and Nigel show.
Buckley says this isn’t normal for the Beech Grove area, and he believes it’s due to the combination of disrespect for police, accused criminals being let back out on the street, and what Buckley believes may be a fear to do their job on the cop’s part.
“And it’s not Beech Grove people who are doing this,” Buckley explains, “It’s people coming in from the outside, especially the east side of Indianapolis. It is a major, major challenge and it’s something that, hey you know what, as a police chief, you’re going to have to address this and you’re going to have to get tough to keep this out.”
The mayor recently commented that police need to get back to being tough on criminals. Buckley clarified that police should be tougher because they’re running into repeat, violent offenders on the street.
He explains to Hammer & Nigel, “I’m not saying go out and hit people in the head and beat them up. I’m just saying the police have to be the police. Society today, there’s so many people against the police that the police may be afraid to do anything.”
Buckley says prosecutors can’t keep allowing offenders off with light sentences, or the problem will continue.
