Indiana State troopers arrive in Gary to help fight rising crime

Jet, Oct 23, 1995

Gary, IN, residents stood outside their homes and cheered as 50 state troopers paraded through the city. The troopers, who arrived on Oct. 3, were expected to remain in Gary for at least 30 days to help the city's undermanned police force combat its high incidence of crime and violence.

"Our city has endured economic and social dislocation of immense proportions for several decades. This support helps us to grapple with an important fallout of that dislocation--too many guns, too much drug abuse and trafficking, too much violence," said Gary Mayor Thomas Barnes in the Gary Post-Tribune.

The troopers and a parade of 25 squad cars led by Indiana Gov. Evan Bayh and State Police Superintendent Lloyd Jennings traveled down Broadway and other main streets there. After a brief meeting at Indiana University's Northwest Campus, Bayh turned the troopers over to Barnes.

Jennings explained the troopers will establish roadblocks to catch drunk drivers, people with illegal drugs or firearms, or have outstanding warrants. The troopers will also assist Gary police in other police business.

Barnes took the opportunity to announce the hiring of 20 new city police officers and said he would push for federal aid so that Gary can recover from its problems.

Police report 96 homicides so far this year in Gary, compared with the city record of 110 set in 1993, when Gary had the nation's highest percapita murder rate.