Even after approving legislation that codifies rules for the Bloomington Police Department’s use of an armored vehicle, the city council made it clear they weren’t done.
On Wednesday, the city council voted unanimously to solidify the policies developed and reviewed over the past several weeks by Bloomington Police Chief Mike Diekhoff and the city’s Board of Public Safety. Bloomington Municipal Code now prohibits the armored vehicle’s use for crowd control and presence at public demonstrations, as well as certain vehicle attachments.
Future legislation will be coming down the pipeline to further address issues that arose when the city announced in February its purchase of a Lenco BearCat to be used by the police department’s Critical Incident Response Team in high-risk situations.
“There are reasons why we have these rules, and as tedious or as laborious as it seems, they provide an oppotunity for everyone to speak, to be listened to,” council member Dorothy Granger said.
Furthermore, the ordinance prohibits the armored vehicle from featuring: affixed firearms, water cannons and any other affixed device capable of launching or firing a projectile.
“I am not one to micro-manage the police chief or anyone else,” council member Jim Sims said. “In my role up here I think we can expect answers when we ask questions, and I expect that to happen. Will we do more later? I think so.”
Residents at Wednesday’s meeting wanted more definitions added to the ordinance’s language, asking for explanations at to what is “high-risk” and how the city police department’s high risk assessment matrix is applied to specific situations.