Troy Riggs, the new Public Safety Director for Indianapolis/Marion County, talked frankly about diversity in the Police Department and allegations of police brutality and misconduct where he formerly worked. Riggs, a twenty year veteran of the Louisville Police Department, was named by Mayor Greg Ballard to run the city’s Police, Fire and other public safety agencies on Tuesday. Riggs comes to Indianapolis from Corpus Christi, Texas where he was Ass’t City Manager for Health and Safety and before that the city’s Police Chief. In an interview aired on Afternoons with Amos, Riggs stated he was proud of his record working with the Louisville’s African-American community and Corpus Christi’s Hispanic community. Regarding police abuses, Riggs said he grew up in a poor neighborhood of Louisville and experienced police misconduct first hand. Challenged about Indianapolis’ severe problems in racial diversity in the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police, Riggs talked about Louisville’s former Police Chief, an African-American named Robert White, who Riggs said served as his mentor and helped prepare him to become Chief in Corpus Christi and now here in Indy as Public Safety Director. Riggs, who is married with two children, will begin his new duties the end of October.
Click Below to Hear Troy Riggs Views on some Key Issues. Runs 4 Minutes ©2012 WTLC/Radio One.
