INDIANAPOLIS — IMPD Chief Randal Taylor announced last week that he's stepping aside, but said he's staying on the force.
"It took me a day to get in here and ready. It'll take me probably a day to get it all out and figure out where the next office is," Taylor told 13News Thursday.
Wherever the office, Taylor said a picture of fallen IMPD Ofc. Breann Leath is going with him.
"She could have been my daughter," he said.
Leath was killed on April 9, 2020, less than four months after Taylor became chief.
"She was young, vibrant," said Taylor. He called her death, "One of those things as a chief you never want to death with."
Leath's death one of many challenges Taylor faced in that first year on the job. There was the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, followed by a summer of social justice protests downtown. Less than a year later, his department dealt with a mass shooting at a FedEx facility, where eight people were killed.
"That was probably the most emotionally difficult thing for me to deal with," Taylor said.
He said, however, he wouldn't trade those experiences and thanked the public for their encouragement.
Not everyone has been happy with his performance, and some in the public called for Taylor's resignation earlier this with year after a record number of police-involved shootings in the city. There have been 18 so far, and there have been calls for an outside agency to come in and investigate.
"I've got no problem with anyone looking into what we're doing and why we're doing it, and if it can help make us better, then that's the whole goal, right?" he said.
Taylor points to what he believes is a more transparent police department following his tenure as chief. On his watch, IMPD saw several changes, including all officers wearing body cameras, with video from those devices being released in cases where force was used.
"We had videos that made officers look really good and had some that made them look not so good, but that's the thing with transparency, right?" said Taylor. "It can't just be when you like it, it's got to be all the time."
IMPD also changed its use of force policies, banning chokeholds and stressing de-escalation. A use of force board and a general orders board - with mostly citizens on them - were also created to review incidents.
"All of those things were in an effort to make sure the community understood what we were doing and could see what we were doing," Taylor said.
"I've often said in my 36 years of law enforcement, we haven't always done it right," said Taylor.
Taylor said if he could, he'd change a few things.
"I wish I had been able to get the message out better about how to conduct yourselves when interacting with officers, with complying with what the officers are telling you to do," he said. "I think that drops officer involved shootings down dramatically."
Taylor also said he'd testify against conceal carry at the Indiana Statehouse.
"If I had to do it over again, I would go, but I was still against that move. I hope the state will reconsider that when they reconvene," Taylor said.
As for what comes next, Taylor said he's not leaving IMPD, just his current office, and hopes to be in the community working closely with victims of crimes and their families.
Taylor said he made the decision to step down when he learned Mayor Joe Hogsett wanted someone willing to serve as chief for the next four years. Taylor was willing to commit to only two.
He has advice for the next person who will head the city's public safety.
"Stay strong," he said. "Obviously, I'm biased. Stay connected to your Lord. Continue to move with the community. Listen to what they have to say."
Taylor believes the next person will face challenges, including figuring out a way to reduce shootings involving youth.
"The goal is to keep not only juveniles, but adults, get them to the point where they don't feel the need to pull the trigger to solve a problem," Taylor said.
Taylor said recruiting more police officers is another challenge for the new chief to tackle. IMPD is budgeted for 1,743. They're currently more than 200 officers short of that number.
"The next chief is going to have to figure out is it salary? Is it vacation? Is it school loan forgiveness? Is it helping with mortgages? There's all kinds of different ways you can go with that but somehow, some way, we're going to have to figure it out," said Taylor.