Veteran police officer named new Indianapolis police chief, weeks after being named acting chief

INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — A veteran Indianapolis police officer was appointed the city’s new police chief Monday, weeks after he was named acting chief following his predecessor’s decision to step down at the end of 2023.

Christopher Bailey, a 25-year veteran of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, was appointed the department’s chief by Mayor Joe Hogsett, who called Bailey a devoted officer.

“When it comes to the safety and security of Indianapolis, few have spent as many waking hours dedicated to our city as Chris,” Hogsett said in a news release.

Bailey, who joined the department in 1999 as a patrol officer, succeeds former IMPD Chief Randal Taylor, who announced in December that after four years as chief he would step down at the end of 2023 to take another role within the department, which has 1,700 sworn officers and 250 civilian employees.

Bailey served as assistant police chief for the past four years, during which he worked closely with Taylor and community leaders to “reform some of the department’s most critical policies,” the mayor’s office said in a news release. Those include revising the department’s use of force and vehicle pursuit policies, implementing body-worn cameras, and establishing a civilian-majority Use of Force Review Board.

Bailey had served for the past month as IMPD’s acting chief, a period during which Hogsett tasked him with moving forward with an outside review of the department’s officer-involved shootings.

The mayor’s office said an update on that process was expected “in the coming weeks.”