WFHB Bloomington Community Radio
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Bloomington Mayor John Hamilton stated that increased law enforcement presence of People’s Park and the downtown area had been effective during a press conference this afternoon.
Hamilton– flanked by Police Chief Mike Diekhoff and Community & Family Resources Director Beverly Calendar Anderson— told the crowd gathered in the Monroe County Public Library’s auditorium that the city plans to crack down on so-called ‘bad behavior’ in the downtown.
“We installed several cameras in public places to help monitor and deter illegal activity, we increased programming in downtown parks to increase overall presence in and utilization of the parks, we launched an effort to encourage less giving directly on the streets to panhandlers and more to social service providers that are so active in our community,” Hamilton said. “We increased downtown police patrols and monitored compliance with state and local laws governing panhandling.”
Thursday’s announcement comes just after 15 overdoses, including one fatal overdose, were reported in the downtown last Friday alone. Several more overdoses were reported over the weekend. Diekhoff stated that those overdoses were attributed to a synthetic marijuana drug called ‘spice.’ A man downtown was arrested by Bloomington Police and charged in connection to those overdoses.
“So, with regards to the recent arrests we made to some of the dealing of the spice cases, there was no substance in it that was illegal when we tested it. That does provide a little bit of a challenge when it goes to charging people, but there are laws dealing with dealing look-alike substances that we utilize to charge people with those,” Diekhoff said. “Spice has been the majority of overdoses that we’ve had because of the makeup and—you know, you can order spice on the internet, and so it makes it difficult to investigate those cases and make arrests, but we have our investigators working on spice cases every day and making buys so that we can go after the dealers to stem the supply of spice.”
Diekhoff echoed Hamilton, saying that officers were managing to implement increased enforcement by working overtime and by contracting additional positions with Indiana University’s Police Department. Diekhoff said that many of the people engaging in ‘bad behavior’ in Bloomington’s downtown were not county residents or had recently moved.
“Our social services, the police department, all the people involved in trying to stop this problem are being overwhelmed because there are a lot of people coming here. So, it is a concern, and when we can identify either an agency or a shelter that are sending people here, I have certainly had a conversation with those people to ask them to stop doing that,” he said.
Hamilton stated that the increased enforcement in Bloomington’s downtown comes after recommendations made by the city’s Safety, Civility and Justice Task Force. While praising Bloomington as a ‘compassionate community,’ Hamilton stated that the city will continue enforcing law in the downtown area.
“Let me be clear about something: we will not abide people who peddle illegal drugs in our community, creating and feeding addictions that are so destructive to individual lives, to families, and to our community,” Hamilton said. “We will enforce laws and pursue those who are bringing these poisons—often literally poison—who are preying on vulnerable people, including youth, who are acting violently, in our community.”
Hamilton said that The Safety, Civility and Justice Task Force was working on installing portable toilets in parks downtown, although he said the specifics of that deal are still being explored.
