As the city considers how it will spend nearly $1.9 billion next year, there’s one item on the annual budget that is already locked in: Funding for 1,743 police officers.
The city is required to fund that many officers through at least 2028, according to an agreement between the city and the police union — even though the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in recent years has failed to attract hundreds of officers it needs to meet that goal.
At a press briefing on the budget in August, Chief Tanya Terry said IMPD is able to provide the same level of service as 1,743 officers because the money pays for overtime.
Asked about how the city and the department arrived at that number, a spokesperson from IMPD said the agreement for 1,743 officers was made in 2016, Mayor Joe Hogsett’s first year in office. The spokesperson referred other questions to the Fraternal Order of Police…