Here’s something that doesn’t happen everyday. I got kicked out of a meeting of the Indianapolis-based Concerned Clergy this morning. I’m shaking my head too. It would have been one thing if I was a money changer, but I’m just a guy with an opinion and humble radio talk show. I know I’m not a fan favorite of some the Clergy members, particularly the lady who is the secretary and prime candidate for cardiac arrest or Type-2 Diabetes. But I’ve never been thrown out of a meeting before.

The sad thing is I was there to talk to some of the clergy members about violence in the African-American community, the weekend robbery at Don’s Gun Store and the fact that IPS has the worst dropout rate in the nation when it comes to Black males. I was hoping to get some meaningful discussion going and find out what concrete steps were being taken to address these types of issues other than the more traditional rallies, prayer vigils and lip service.

I guess we’ll never know because apparently the hatred for a productive Black man who can help influence opinions and break down stereotypes is more important for some people than keeping the streets safe from other Black men who aren’t as productive and perpetuate stereotypes.

I wonder what Jesus would have done?

As annoyed as I am with crime in Indianapolis, I am actually more astounded by the blatant stupidity of some criminals.  As a famous caped crusader once said, “criminals are a cowardly lot” but the guys who reportedly broke into Don’s Gun Shop at 38th and Lafayette just take the cake.

Not only did they steal a car from the nearby Mitsubishi dealer (where there are cameras) they used the car to go through the front window of the gun store (where there are cameras) climbed through the hole they made in the wall and stole guns.

They later ditched the car behind the gun store (where there are cameras across the street) and got into a white pick up truck. Which was easily identifiable as evidenced by the high speed chase.   They were arrested this morning and several items were found in a nearby apartment.  Because there’s nothing like taking evidence and leaving it in your place.

At the very least these knuckleheads could have done if they were going to be this brazen was leave a Joker playing card at the scene of the crime; after all, they are clowns.

You would think with major issues facing the city like crime and serious financial issues, some people still find time for foolishness.

No, I’m not talking about the City-County Council and the Ethics panel which Councilor Paul Bateman stepped down and Bill Oliver never showed concerning the not so bright actions of Monroe Gray.

I’m actually talking about the ACLU of Indiana threatening to sue the Lawrence Township Trustee for threatening to suspend poor relief for families whose children missed John Marshall Community School this week.

From what I’ve been able to gather, the ACLU told Mike Hobbs that the poor are “entitled” to relief because being poor is a protected class. Whatever. If being poor was a protected class, my brother-in-law would have eight bodyguards around him everyday.

And just for the record, after annoucing the plan to withhold poor relief, more than 70 children who had been previously absent magically showed up and more calls have been coming in from other parents promising to get their kids to school.

I’m heading down to Southern Indiana to give a speech and be part of a panel discussion this morning.  So today’s entry is pretty much open to whatever is on your minds.  I’ll be back this afternoon and if you’re up for it, join me tonight for WXNT’s Cocktails and Conversation at McCormick and Schmik’s  in downtown Indianapolis from 5-8.  We’ll be featuring Tommy Bahama drink specials and enjoying each other’s company and having lively discussions.

This week marked the first week of school for students at IPS’ John Marshall Middle School on the city’s east side. Unfortunately some parents forgot; about half of them. Out of about 800 students, nearly half of them have not shown up for class. 

Lawrence Township Trustee Mike Hobbes is announcing today that his office will withhold poor relief for any family whose children have not attended school.   I like the idea, why should the taxpayers fork over their hard earned money so a bunch of people can sit around and watch television all day?

But the fact that these children are missing school is symptomatic of a bigger problem.

Part of the reason we have a crime problem is because the only people who don’t seem to think it’s a problem are the people most impacted by it.  They don’t cooperate with the police, they don’t send their kids to school, but somehow a good chunk of them have found the route to the public troth.

I’m not saying build a fence and leave them to their own devices, but until the people in these crime-ridden communities decide that they’ve had enough, crime will never get under control.

Marion County Public Safety Director tells me the city does have a comprehensive plan to fighting crime and it is showing results, despite the sharp increase in homicides. 

Scott Newman made his comments this morning as law enforcement officials were dealing with a murder-suicide that began in the 5700 block of Georgetown and ended following a high speed chase at 25th and Pennsylvania; taking the city to 72 homicides this year.

Newman says the County is increasing the efficiency of the criminal justice system so criminals are not bonding out quicker.  He also says they’ve added about 40 public safety assistants to take care of paperwork, freeing up officers to deal with the crime problem.

In addition, Newman says they have targeted 50 beats with the worse offenders, noting that about six percent of the offenders are responsible for most of the crime.  Luckily the city is above the national average in solving homicides.  The national average is 61 percent, while Indianapolis is 71 percent.

Newman also stressed the importance of re-entry programs for ex-offenders, noting that there were more than 5,000 ex-offenders released into Marion County over the past several years and 74-percent of committed another crime within three years of being released.

Although the headlines have been pretty full lately, there are some things that have been under the surface that I think are worth mentioning.

If you were wondering how a prominent pastor’s daughter ended up being a victim of violent crime, my police sources say her husband was allegedly mixed up with some bad actors and the motive for the killing was to send him a message.

If you were wondering how police caught the guy who allegedly shot a TV photographer and and a freelance photographer at a house fire last week, it’s easy. They traced the bullet and found the shot came directly from the man’s home.

If you were wondering what the vote total was that got Gabrielle Campo her party’s nomination to take on Andre Carson it was Campo – 40, Patrick O’Connor – 18, Ray Irwin – 15, Kevin Green – 2.

And if you were wondering why the second Saturday night of Indiana Black Expo had fewer problems than last year (32 arrests in 2008, 76 arrests in 2007.  90 curfew violations in 2008, 111 curfew violations in 2007) in addition to good police work and faith-based patrols, here’s another one, $4 a gallon gas.

I now have a new tradition. The second Saturday night of Indiana Black Expo, I work the door at Nicki Blaine’s Cigar and Martini bar.

I do it to get a feel for the atmosphere and to see what problems occur when thousands of teenagers are unleashed on downtown Indianapolis and what the impact would be. I was pretty harsh in my critique last year, this year was a little different.

First of all, every IMPD officer who worked the event deserves a giant raise in pay. They kept the pedestrian traffic moving, which I think went a long way to keeping the silliness down to a bear minimum. There were some arrests for curfew violation. But there were no shots fired last night to the best of my knowledge and I was out until 2 a.m. Also with the way this week has gone, IMPD exercised great restraint and managed to keep a good sense of humor about the whole evening.

The worst criminal offense I saw was a person (an adult) picked up for weapons possession. There was one incident I saw where a cop told an 11-12 year-old to keep moving and the 4’8” kid tried to get in the 6’4” officer’s face. His little friends held him back and took him away. The Officer just gave the kid that “you are not worth the paperwork of me smacking you so get somewhere!” look.

Now with that said, I do think Expo should do a seminar for teenage girls about self-respect. I saw a lot of girls wearing clothes two sizes too small. I have seen more loin cloth on Indonesian tribal garb. There is no way my 14-year old daughter would be allowed to leave the house looking like she worked in a Vietnamese brothel. But apparently, somebody did. Either that, or the kids left the house with a change of clothes. What’s even worse were how the more “full-figured” gals looked like two pounds of rump roast in a one-pound bag. I agree last night was warm, but walking around half-naked was not the right way to beat the heat.

I think Expo officially has a new mission next year. It’s to end the “clothing optional” portion of that second Saturday night.

Marion County Public Safety Director Scott Newman has unveiled a plan to clean up IMPD.  Those measures include…

• More intensive supervision of officers in the field
• Tighter accounting and inventory controls of search warrants and seizures of drugs and money
• Bringing back the previous practice of polygraph tests for officers assigned to narcotics enforcement, vice, intelligence and property room
• Creating the position of recruiter in order to ensure the department attracts the best, high quality candidates, including establishing a presence on college campuses
• Establishing a staffed Office of Career Development with the task of guiding officers toward more directed career goals, cultivating management and leadership skills, and providing more consistent evaluations and training
• Requiring performance evaluations on a regular basis

Of course had the people who had been running IMPD before Greg Ballard took over had done some of this, maybe these steps would not have been necessary.