New Public Safety Director Likely Coming From Outside Indy Government

INDIANAPOLIS -- A new public safety director for Indianapolis will likely be announced later this week and the replacement is expected to be someone from outside of government.

Outgoing public safety director Troy Riggs teased his replacement at his final media breakfast Tuesday morning.

"Well you know what, I’m just going to step out on a — you’re just going to get me in trouble but I’m going to tell you that I’m not supposed to say anything," he began to say, before catching himself a little bit.

He went on: "Mayor’s decision, they’ll make that decision this week. But I’ll tell you it’s probably not someone you’re familiar with. You’re probably familiar with them, but not familiar with them in DPS."

Riggs is departing city government at the end of the month. He’s taking a teaching and administrative role at IUPUI. He’s just one of several top Mayor Ballard officials departing for jobs in the private sector. Ballard is not running for re-election and leaves office at the end of the year.

The new public safety director will likely only have about five months on the job.

Homicide rates down

Contrary to a national trend, homicide rates in Indianapolis are trending down so far this year. There have 58 murders in the city so far this year, Riggs said. That’s down by 16 from the same period last year, when there were 74 homicides to date. Several large cities in the country are seeing murder rates jump up by about the same amount. Non-fatal shootings are also down in Indianapolis, but by smaller figures, according to Riggs.