Carl Brizzi for Prosecutor

The Star Editorial Board asked incumbent Marion County Prosecutor Carl Brizzi and challenger Melina Kennedy to answer five questions explaining their top priorities and challenges if elected. Read what Brizzi, a Republican, and Kennedy, a Democrat, would do to make our streets and neighborhoods safer.

Q. What will be your top priorities as prosecutor?

CARL BRIZZI: We must aggressively go after criminal gangs. In other cities, we've seen what gangs can do if they're left unchecked and we cannot allow that to happen here in Marion County. We will continue our policy of prosecuting without apology gang members who terrorize our neighborhoods. That is why I fought for and helped pass a new law that doubles the jail sentence for certain gang-related crimes. We've also increased the number of gang prosecutors by cross training all of our community prosecutors on how to effectively fight gang crime. We've organized our gang prosecution unit by geographic area so that they can effectively combat gangs in specific areas. All of our efforts are in vain unless we know who gang members are. Currently, the Indianapolis Police Department, the Marion County Sheriff's Department and other law enforcement agencies operate off of separate gang databases. I will lead the fight to create a uniform database that can be used by every law enforcement officer.
The increase in gang activity is a threat that we must take seriously. Other communities have paid the price for enacting policies that are weak on gang members. The only effective way to combat gangs is to aggressively target them and refuse to give up one inch of our neighborhoods. A top priority of my second term will be to continue the war on gangs and to find new and innovative ways to target them.

MELINA KENNEDY: I will have one fundamental mission as prosecutor: attack rising crime.
Period.
Rising crime is rooted in what I call an "unholy trinity," a nexus of street crime: gangs, guns and drugs.
First, the Marion County prosecutor's office must more aggressively crack down on gang leaders and members. In that vein, I will add a director of counter-street-gang operations to the executive staff of the prosecutor's office and reinforce that position with new laws that strategically and severely target gangs.
Second, drugs are the currency of rising crime. Whether it's crack cocaine or methamphetamine, they create the cash flow necessary to sustain the career criminals that drive rising crime. In order to turn the tide, I will take down drug dealers with habitual-offender laws and work with law enforcement agencies to interdict the flow of drugs into Indianapolis by cartels.
Third, Marion County's rash of homicides over the last year are the symptom of a horrific trend: too many illegal handguns in the possession of violent felons. I will use technology that tracks gunfire and dispatches police in seconds to track down these dangerous criminals.
My administration will have one essential mission: attack rising crime.

Q. What further steps need to be taken to reduce overcrowding in the Marion County Jail?

KENNEDY: Marion County must forge a bold and comprehensive new strategy to address jail overcrowding, not as simply a stop-gap, but as a long-term solution. A solution for the next 50 years, not from the last 30. In late July, I put forward a plan that met three essential objectives.

First, we have to make sure we have enough jail space now to end early releases in the short term. To that end, I'm proud to have worked with Sheriff Frank Anderson to begin to move female inmates to the Liberty Hall facility, freeing up much-needed cells for hardened criminals at the Marion County Jail.
Second, Marion County must process cases faster, getting convictions and sending criminals to state prison. My plan included additional court hours, a night court and more prosecutors. The night court and other aspects of the plan have since been enacted by the Marion County Superior Court.

Finally, the fundamental part of my long-term solution is getting criminals into state prisons with stiffer sentences. When criminals get hard felony sentences, and not weak misdemeanor plea deals, they will go to state prison, and not take up local jail cells.

This only happens with smarter, tougher prosecution.

BRIZZI: In order to address the immediate situation we need to find additional ways to increase the number of jail beds. Last month, members of the criminal justice community came together in a bipartisan effort and put forward a plan that will add more prosecutors and public defenders and create night court. This will process cases more efficiently. The mayor, sheriff and I worked together across partisan lines to find ways to halt the emergency release of prisoners, ultimately, coming up with a plan to rent an additional 200 jail beds at the Community Corrections facility on Washington Street.

While these are important steps to address the immediate problem, we must work toward a long-term solution that will end the dangerous practice of releasing prisoners early. We must seek a holistic approach to the jail overcrowding issue that treats not just the symptoms, but the underlying cause of the problem. We need to better streamline cases through the courts and re-evaluate every facet of the criminal justice system. By doing that, we will work toward a permanent fix and not just another Band-Aid solution.

Q. The recent increase in both violent and property crimes is on the minds of many Marion County residents. What can the prosecutor do to address residents' concerns and improve public safety?

BRIZZI: The prosecutor's office has doubled the number of homicide prosecutors, increased the number of prosecutors handling major narcotics cases and added more gun prosecutors. Having more prosecutors working on these specific areas will lower caseloads and greatly help in the prosecution of these deadly crimes. While adding prosecutors, jail beds and police officers will help decrease crime, the long-term solution is to focus on preventing crime in the first place and the best way to do that is by creating programs that keep kids off the streets and out of trouble.

That is why my office started the Mentoring Youth -- Kids Improving Directions (MY -- KID) program, which mentors more than 100 at-risk youth in five area schools. We also started the Educating Kids about Gun Violence (EKG) program to teach middle-school students about the real-life consequences of picking up a gun. These two programs are examples of how the prosecutor's office is proactive in preventing crime by intervening in children's lives before they commit a crime. I will continue to explore new innovative crime-prevention techniques during my second term.

KENNEDY: Winning the war on crime by effectively striking at the criminal nexus of gangs, guns and drugs requires substantial change in the prosecutor's office itself.

Taking on and taking down the gang leaders, drug dealers and gun runners demands a prosecutor's office that is built toward achieving that objective. It demands a prosecutor's office that does not merely respond to crime by processing cases, but rather, proactively targets drug cartels, works to destroy the criminal infrastructure of gangs and tracks down sexual predators before they begin to prey on innocent children. As prosecutor, I will achieve these objectives by re-organizing the prosecutor's office around the core concept of community prosecution.

I will expand community prosecution to a level hitherto unseen. The office structure would be completely overhauled to assign most deputy prosecutors not just an area of specialty, but a geographic region aligned with the six districts of the new Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. Community prosecutors will know the crime patterns in their neighborhoods; they will know whom to talk to and what to look for.

In short, its time that all prosecutors know their neighborhood, all neighborhood know their prosecutors.

Q. What will you do to reduce the rate of turnover among employees in the prosecutor's office?

KENNEDY: Public service is a vocation, a calling that demands long hours and hard work for little pay.

The hard-working men and women of the prosecutor's office every day embody such commitment and dedication.

Working as Mayor Bart Peterson's deputy mayor, I learned the effect that a compassionate, strong and energetic leader with a vision can have on those who strive to make Marion County a better place to live, work and raise a family.
We can and will reduce the rate of turnover in three ways:

First, as deputy mayor, I supported the county option income tax (COIT) increase that helped reduce high turnover by giving deputy prosecutors pay raises. As prosecutor, I will fight to give deputies the resources they need to do their courageous and demanding work.

Second, it's time real leadership returned to the prosecutor's office -- leadership that creates a positive work environment where all employees feel comfortable with those who lead them.

And finally, by re-organizing the office around the concept of community prosecution, deputy prosecutors will be connected to neighborhoods, so they can see first hand how their work cleans up street corners, clears a path for young people to attend school, and gives families a safe home and secure community.

BRIZZI: The biggest contributing factor to turnover in recent years has been the routine practice of taking money away from the prosecutor's office budget after it was already allocated. In the 2003, 2004 and 2005 budgets, funds were allocated by the City-County Council and then subsequently taken away to pay for other projects. The result was often an increase in caseloads and overworked prosecutors who either chose to seek similar roles in nearby counties where caseloads were lighter or pay was higher, or chose to transition to private law firms.

Fortunately, no funds were taken from the office during the last budget cycle, which has allowed us to keep caseload and staffing levels where they need to be, and the turnover rate is near a record low. Prioritizing the funding of public safety and the prosecutor's office specifically will allow us to retain the great attorneys and other men and women who work every day to make our community safer.

Q. Why should voters support you on Nov. 7?

BRIZZI: The most important issue in this race is experience. If you or a loved one was a victim of crime, who would you want to prosecute the case? I have personally investigated and prosecuted cases of murder, attempted murder, criminal gang activity, theft, possession of illegal firearms, corrupt business influence, criminal confinement, bribery and forgery. My experience facing the most dangerous criminals and consulting victims and victims' families provides me with a perspective and ability to lead the office in a way that my opponent cannot. My opponent has never worked in a prosecutor's office, never filed a charge, never tried a case and never put a criminal behind bars.

Several weeks ago, I released Brizzi Brief 2006, which not only follows up on the promises I made in the 2002 Brief, but also outlines my plan for a second term regarding more than a dozen public safety issues facing Marion County. To learn more about my proposals to reduce gun violence, halt the spread of gangs and drugs, protect children from sexual predators, increase child support collections, and increase prevention programs to intervene before young people get caught up in a life of crime, you can obtain a copy of my comprehensive plan by calling (317) 396-4994 or log on to www.carlbrizzi.com.

We've accomplished a lot in the last four years, but there is more work to do. I am committed to tough prosecution of the most violent criminals and those who prey on seniors and children. I will do everything I can to make every street, every neighborhood as safe as it can be.

KENNEDY: Over the last four years Marion County has witnessed a dramatic rise in crime. And to get right to the point: Marion County is at risk of losing the war on crime.

But the war is not being lost in the streets; arrests are up and law enforcement officers are doing their job. The war is being lost in the courtroom.
It's time for a change. It's time for new leadership. And it's time we had a plan to win the war on crime.

I have a strategy that I believe will turn the tide in this war.

First, we must attack the unholy trinity of gangs, guns and drugs. Second, we must protect children from sexual predators. And third, we must strike at the heart of domestic violence early, before a fist becomes a gun.

Elections are about choices. So in November, when voters enter the voting booth, they should ask themselves a simple question: Is Marion County safer now than it was four years ago?

Are Indianapolis' streets safer now than they were four years ago? Crime Is Rising, And It's Time For A Change.