MICHIGAN CITY — A plan to spend up to $300,000 from Michigan City's rainy-day fund on more police surveillance gear is dead. All four council members who sponsored the ordinance withdrew it Tuesday night, WSBT 22 reported.
The same council voted unanimously that night to back a steelworkers' petition for a larger permanent NIPSCO workforce in Northern Indiana, the city said.
Key facts
| Item | Detail | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Meeting | Common Council, Tuesday, Oct. 6, City Hall | City of Michigan City |
| Flock request | Up to $300,000 from the rainy-day fund | WSBT 22 |
| Plan as of September | Seven pan-tilt-zoom cameras on Franklin Street, a Flock Safety trailer, a "drone as first responder" | WVPE |
| Outcome | Withdrawn by all four sponsors | WSBT 22 |
| Cameras already up | Stay in use | WSBT 22 |
| NIPSCO resolution | Adopted unanimously | City of Michigan City |
How the camera plan died
Police first asked for the money in July, WVPE reported. The council tabled it Sept. 15 after a public hearing and set it for Oct. 6, WSBT and WVPE reported.
At that hearing, Assistant Chief Kyle Shiparski promised more safeguards. "The goal is legitimate access when officers need it, documentation when they use it and accountability afterwards," he told the council, according to WVPE. He estimated the Flock system has a "meaningful impact" on 20 to 30 cases a month.
On Tuesday, police pointed to updated policies and a Flock transparency portal that shows 30-day statistics, WSBT reported. Protesters outside City Hall raised privacy concerns and objected to tapping the rainy-day fund.
"I am here because I believe Flock cameras violate our 4th Amendment rights," resident Jason Traton told WSBT.
Resident Eileen Mark told WSBT she hoped the council would "vote against giving this money, especially from the rainy day fund to Flock."
The Times of Northwest Indiana also reported that the proposal was killed after its four sponsors pulled their support.
A push for local utility crews
The NIPSCO resolution came from Mayor Angie Nelson Deuitch. She signed the United Steelworkers Local 12775 petition after a Sept. 22 meeting with union representatives, the city said. Council members Tim Bietry and Don Przybylinski introduced it.
"The Aug. 11 derecho showed us how much our community depends on trained crews who can respond when disaster strikes," Nelson Deuitch said in the city's release.
The resolution asks the governor, the General Assembly, the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission and the Office of Utility Consumer Counselor to:
- assess current utility staffing needs in Northern Indiana
- develop workforce growth targets
- support expanded utility apprenticeship programs
- encourage local hiring and training initiatives
- ensure communities receive the utility service and emergency preparedness they deserve
It also asks the IURC to consider workforce adequacy and emergency response readiness in cases affecting NIPSCO customers. It calls for public reporting on frontline staffing levels, vacancy rates, storm restoration performance and contractor use.
Certified copies go to Gov. Mike Braun, state Sen. Rodney Pol Jr., state Rep. Randy Novak, legislative leaders, the IURC, the consumer counselor and the union local, Hometown News Now reported.
Photo credit
¹ Hero: Michigan City City Hall, by Dennisyerger84, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0. Resized for web; this copy is shared under the same license.
² Flock Safety camera, Aurora, Colorado, June 27, 2024: Tony Webster, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY 2.0. Resized for web.
³ Franklin Street: Nyttend, via Wikimedia Commons, public domain.
⁴ Michigan City Generating Station: Ken Lund, via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 2.0. Resized for web; this copy is shared under the same license.
