INDIANAPOLIS (Network Indiana) — The superintendent of the Indiana State Police is concerned that police are being demonized, and said in an interview with IndyPolitics, that he’s never seen the police profession as demoralized as it is right now, with calls around the country to defund police departments.
“I have never see in my lifetime, and I’m almost 60 years old, a more demoralized profession than I do right now,” said Carter. “I say that with all due respect, because we are not without sin.”
Carter acknowledged that he has work to do on the culture of the department he runs, particularly with race issues. But, he said he is willing to do the work. His convern is that people may believe that an entire profession is bad because of what some wrong cops have done.
“We can’t lose sight that a very small percentage of one percent of policemen are bad. We’re people. We’re human beings. We hire human beings. So, I don’t blame some communities for having some distrust in us. I don’t.”
Carter said any police agency that does not hold a police officer accountable for something that officer has done wrong, is in the wrong.
“If I ever do that, I’ll step down because I would never do that intentionally.”
Carter also addressed questions about enforcement of the new law that requires people to stop holding devices while driving. He said the intent is not so the Indiana State Police can write tickets to raise money for the state.
“In Indiana, at least now, that will never be the intent of enforcement, to generate revenue. The intent of enforcement is to change behavior and hold people accountable,” he said. “A lot of people think we write tickets to generate revenue and nothing could be further from the truth.”
