Aaron Bailey shooting: What to know as merit board decides on firing IMPD officers

Two Indianapolis police officers who last summer fatally shot unarmed black motorist Aaron Bailey are set to appear before the Civilian Police Merit Board next week with their jobs on the line.

More is at stake, however, besides the careers of officers Michal P. Dinnsen and Carlton J. Howard. The case, a rare example of officers facing termination after a police shooting, will test Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Bryan Roach's authority. And activists say the outcome will determine whether IMPD retains credibility in city neighborhoods with predominantly African-American populations.

Around 1:45 a.m. June 29, Howard pulled over the 45-year-old Bailey for having a suspended license, according to a report issued by authorities. After being asked to step out of his car, Bailey fled and crashed his Cadillac into a tree on the north side.

Howard, who is biracial, and Dinnsen, who is white, fired a total of 11 times through the back of the Cadillac, striking Bailey four times through his back. The officers said they believed Bailey had been reaching for a weapon from his center console and would not comply with their orders to show his hands.

A woman who also was in the Cadillac told police she did not hear any commands before the shots began. No weapon was found.

The death inflamed a tenuous relationship between minorities in the community and IMPD. Just hours after Bailey's death, Roach, who is white, began a series of meetings with primarily African-American groups across the city. He pledged the department would be transparent in its investigation.

Officers are rarely fired following police shootings. In Indianapolis, it's never happened, according to multiple people interviewed by IndyStar.

In this case, though, Roach recommended firing the officers, saying Dinnsen and Howard's use of deadly force was not justified. Their actions rose "to a level so far removed from accepted professional practice and community expectation that it severely damages public trust of its police department," Roach said.

Yet the officers were cleared of any criminal wrongdoing by St. Joseph County Prosecutor Kenneth Cotter, a special prosecutor assigned in the case. In a 16-page report issued four months after the shooting, Cotter cited Indiana's self-defense statute and said there was insufficient evidence to prove the officers were not fearful and therefore not justified in firing their weapons.

The disconnect creates a "messy" case for the merit board, said Jim White, a public safety lecturer at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis and former state trooper.

How did a prosecutor determine a shooting was justified while the Police Department did not?

"I just think this is going to be a tough one," White said. "And I don't think anybody can predict how it's going to turn out."

Officials are apparently prepping for a slog. Three days have been scheduled for the hearing, which will take place in Courtroom 10 inside the City-County Building.

Starting 9 a.m. Tuesday, the first day of the hearing, all eyes will be on the merit board. Here's what you should keep in mind.

The Civilian Police Merit Board is meant to provide civilian oversight.

The seven-member board is responsible for deciding whether a police officer can be fired. One member is appointed by the Indianapolis City-County Council. Four are appointed by the mayor. The last two are selected by the police union.

In addition to listening to the facts of the case, the board likely will review the officers' training, academy records and performance records, White said. While IMPD is expected to argue that Dinnsen and Howard violated policy and training, the officers likely will argue that they followed policy and training and feared Bailey was reaching for a weapon. The two also could argue that IMPD's policy and training were inadequate.

"We strongly believe that the police officers acted appropriately based on their training. Although it was a tragic outcome, they truly believed Mr. Bailey was turning with a weapon to fire upon them and therefore they fired in defense of their own lives and the lives of their fellow officers," said John Kautzman, one of two attorneys representing the officers. "We feel confident the officers did not violate any of the rules and regulations of the police department, and they did not violate the principles that they were trained upon."

Dinnsen and Howard, who joined the force in 2014, have been on administrative leave since the shooting. They would receive back pay for any unpaid leave if they are reinstated by the board.

The case could test Chief Bryan Roach's authority.

An IMPD internal review found that Dinnsen and Howard failed to comply with IMPD's training and policies. Roach, a 27-year veteran who started leading IMPD in 2017, cited the review's findings when recommending the termination of Dinnsen and Howard.

If the merit board decides to reject the decision, Roach could face a series of problems related to his department, according to IndyStar interviews with police officers, community activists and experts.

How could he recommend discipline if a questionable shooting were to occur in the future? Roach is pushing officers to draw their sidearms less often and hopes to enhance the community's oversight of any uses of force.

Would his push for beat policing face new roadblocks in the community? IMPD's beat policing initiative requires officers to build stronger connections with the streets they patrol.

And if the two officers were to return to active duty, where could Roach deploy them? Activists said they would be concerned about seeing the officers out on patrol.

Roach declined to comment ahead of the hearing.

"The chief does not want to distract from the difficult and important decisions ahead. Out of deference for the process, he will withhold comment," said Sgt. Kendale Adams, executive officer in the chief's office.

Activists are keeping a watchful eye on the outcome.

The Rev. David W. Greene Sr., president of the Concerned Clergy of Indianapolis, said he will attend at least some of the hearing. He hopes the merit board will support Roach, but he remains concerned. "History is not necessarily on that side," Greene said. "Historically the merit board has let people off the hook."

Marshawn Wolley, a public affairs lecturer at Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, has tracked the aftermath of the shooting closely. He emphasized a glaring gap between what prosecutors deem to be criminal conduct by a police officer compared to what the community considers a crime.

For IMPD to continue fostering trust among minority communities, Wolley said, the officers must be removed from the department.

"The officers lost legitimacy," Wolley said. “I don’t know that the community would accept it."

Satchuel Cole, vice president of DON'T SLEEP, intends to live-stream every day for those who cannot attend. She said she will accept nothing short of the two officers being fired. The prospect of them retaining their jobs, she said, is "highly alarming."

"That basically sends a message to every officer that you can shoot black people with no repercussions," Cole said.

IMPD's rank and file will be watching, too.

It's rare for an officer to face termination in connection with a police action shooting, particularly if the officers said they feared for their lives. IMPD officers will be watching to see how the merit board assesses existing training and policy.

What else?

IMPD still faces a pending civil rights investigation by the FBI. The status of that investigation is unclear, and the FBI has declined multiple times over several months to comment.

Call IndyStar reporter Ryan Martin at (317) 444-6294. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @ryanmartin

More by Ryan Martin: How Trump's federal prosecutor is bringing the 'hammer' against Indianapolis gun violence

More by Ryan Martin: IMPD and an officer are sued after fatal 2016 police shooting

More by Ryan Martin: Instead of jailing those with mental illness, here's what Indianapolis is doing