BEECH GROVE, Ind. — The mayor of Beech Grove is calling for his police department to be more aggressive in their patrols. Mayor Dennis Buckley is concerned about a recent series of violent crimes in the small city on the southeast side of Indianapolis.
Over Labor Day weekend, two women were shot in the parking lot of Beech Grove Bowl, and a man was stabbed in the face at a family fun center.
The mayor has issued no orders or directives to his police chief. But Buckley supports police pulling people over late at night. He said Beech Grove was known for that more than a decade ago.
"It's alright for the police to be aggressive,” Buckley said. “It's alright for them to stop people and ask what's going on. Every once in a while, the police have to be the police. I expect our police department to keep the peace.”
13News reporter Rich Nye clarified by asking Buckley if an officer should pull someone over who is not from Beech Grove just for driving late at night?
"If they're not familiar with your car, then, ‘Hey, what are you doing?' That's how strict it was here," Buckley said.
Nye clarified that Buckley believes that practice is OK.
“Late at night, with all the traffic that comes through here, there's nothing wrong with pulling people over and saying, 'What are you doing?'” Buckley said. “There are people who drive through the city of Beech Grove every single day that I don't want here. They are bad. They are devious people. And I would just as soon as they keep going instead of coming into town. That's part of our problem. And that's part of what happened over the last two months."
The mayor said that most of the suspects and victims of major crimes that happen in Beech Grove are not from Beech Grove. And so, Buckley says, he doesn't want his city to be a welcoming city if that means welcoming criminals.
"I'd rather be on the other side of the fence,” Buckley said. “I would rather prevent it. And I would rather have a strong police presence to say that, ‘You know what? If we come into Beech Grove and we want to do bad things, we ought to think twice about this because we're liable to be stopped.'"
The Beech Grove Police Department did not respond directly to Buckley's comments Thursday but addressed the violent crimes in an interview earlier this week.
"The city of Beech Grove Police Department, first of all, we've had tremendous support from our citizens, and they've done a great job, and we will do our job and continue to do our job,” Beech Grove Police Deputy Chief Bob Mercuri said. “And I know he supports us 100%. All you can do is make the arrests, make the stops, do what you do."
The mayor retires at the end of the year after three terms, but he plans to still live in Beech Grove.
“Our police do excellent work,” Buckley said. “I just desire that they be more aggressive and be more visible to the general public. And that way, I think that will go a long way to help us.”