Republican gubernatorial candidate Brad Chambers released his public safety plan on Wednesday. He discussed the plan at the Daily Journal’s office.
Jayden Kennett | Daily Journal
Indiana gubernatorial candidate Brad Chambers has released a new public safety plan that he says will lead to a safer Indiana — if he’s elected.
Chambers, one of five Republicans seeking the governor’s office next year, released Wednesday a seven-point plan addressing bail, qualified immunity, police recruitment, mental health and more. The former Indiana commerce secretary discussed the plan during an interview at the Daily Journal’s office in Franklin Wednesday evening.
He was one of the last Republican candidates to announce they were running for governor, which he did in August. The lifelong Hoosier and entrepreneur said he started late because he wanted to make sure he was “running for the right reasons.”
“I believe Indiana’s great but it can be exceptional — and that is exactly why I’m in this race,” Chambers said.
Despite getting in the race late, Chambers says he believes his message is resonating with voters. By the end of the year, he expects to meet the threshold to be on primary ballots next May. One of his opponents, businessman Eric Doden, announced he met the threshold earlier this week.
Chambers is running for Indiana governor against seven candidates as of Nov. 16 — five Republicans, one Democrat and one Libertarian.
Bail, qualified immunity plans
On Wednesday, Chambers released a seven-pillar plan that his campaign says will strengthen support for first responders. The plan, dubbed “Protect and Serve,” is based on feedback he’s heard from first responders he has met in his travels around the state.
“Everything in that plan has been organically developed through interactions, meeting and listening to our first responders and our law enforcement,” he said.
The plan’s first pillar addresses mandatory minimum bail for violent and repeat offenders. Chambers says judicial discretion has generally been too lenient and has put Hoosiers at risk.
“What’s not helping is when a guy is working hard putting his life at risk, and he takes someone who’s arrested and they book him in and he’s released the next day for $500 bucks,” Chambers said. “That’s not helpful. It is demoralizing to the guys that are trying to put criminals in jail, and it creates a risk to the community.”
While he is for low regulation, Chambers says there needs to be consistency in bail standards. It can’t be so flexible that it’s creating a disincentive to arrest people, he said.
Chambers also plans to strengthen qualified immunity for law enforcement and first responders by codifying it into state law. Not having it codified makes an “already hard job harder,” and if it were to be codified, it would take some stress away from police, he said.
Addressing fentanyl
Another of the plan’s pillars targets fentanyl overdoses and drug abuse by proposing the creation of regional, multi-disciplinary and cross-jurisdictional task forces. These groups would have the power to investigate deaths attributable to synthetic opioids, and would be able to target dealers and traffickers “more efficiently and effectively,” the proposal says.
The strategy to address fentanyl came directly from his conversations with law enforcement, Chambers said.
“There needs to be a multidisciplinary regional task force because Franklin PD can’t handle fentanyl by themselves right?” he said. “They have to join forces and have many different departments sharing resources, sharing knowledge, attacking the scourge of fentanyl that’s caused by, I hate to say it, that’s caused by D.C. inaction.”
The D.C. “inaction” refers to politicians in Washington not doing “exactly what we asked them to do, which is be bipartisan, and come up with a solution to the border,” Chambers said. This inaction is causing states to not only risk their citizens because of fentanyl but to spend more resources to protect them, he said.
As part of Chambers’ public safety plan, he also proposes identifying training gaps for local first responders and developing more training to prepare them to address the fentanyl epidemic and mental health problems. Additionally, he proposes allowing licensed childcare facilities to qualify for the Indiana Secured School Grant program, which allows schools to use taxpayer dollars on school resource officers as well as firearm training for teachers.
Mental health, recruitment
Mental health is another pillar of Chambers’ plan, as he proposes expanding existing behavioral health centers, along with building more.
He also wants to fund appropriate mental health treatment for offenders so they can be placed on the path to recovery to prevent future offenses. Chambers also wants to support first responders’ ability to commit offenders in crisis to behavioral health centers, the proposal shows.
Over the last few decades, prisons have become and county jails have become a “repository for mental health challenges and behavioral health challenges,” Chambers said. Officials need to pay attention to this and give officers and first responders help, and the Indiana General Assembly had a good first step when they approved building three mental health centers last year, he said.
Another key pillar is enhancing recruitment and retention efforts for first responders by working with the secretary of education and higher education institutions to create high school and college programs to create expedited pathways to becoming first responders.
Schools talk about trade pathways, like carpentry as an example, but being in EMS is not something that is typically talked about in eighth and ninth grade, Chambers said.
“We’re not giving kids a clear, articulate strategy on what your career is going to look like starting in eighth or ninth grade,” Chambers said. “So let’s create, college is one pathway, trades is another pathway, civics is another pathway — EMT, police officer, fire — and really spell out how kids can progress into that profession, help the recruiting out for these guys because the whole country is short of workers. Indiana’s got its fair share, but the whole world is short of workers.”
As officials look at the education system and make sure kids are reading, writing and learning math, Chambers says they should also start educating people on what’s available in the civics pathway.
Chambers also plans an out-of-state recruitment effort for public safety agencies, his plan shows.
