The head of the Indiana Fraternal Order of Police is calling for a Merrillville Town Council member to apologize, after a discussion on license plate readers apparently led to disparaging remarks about police. Council member Donald Spann said, "We hate cops," during the January 11 council meeting.
When the council met again Tuesday, state FOP president Bill Owensby called Spann's comment a slap in the face to the state's 13,000 police officers. "There still should be an apology. He still should be on record as to what his feelings are about the law enforcement officers that he as an elected official protects and sees over in this community. That's what I expect. That's what these men and women expect," Owensby told council members.
But Spann declined to comment.
"Mr. Spann, did you want to address the group at all?" asked Council President Rick Bella.
"Nope!" Spann replied.
Many of those in attendance Tuesday acknowledged that Spann's apparent joke was in poor taste. But some felt the response was different, compared to when photos surfaced of a council member wearing blackface.
Merrillville resident Darian Collins is the political action chair for the Gary NAACP. "You have come here like a lynch mob against this man, and this is terrible. What he said, he did not mean, and what he said was from a cultural standpoint that none of you understand. None of you understand it," Collins told FOP members.
In other business, council members rescinded their recent appointment to the Merrillville Police Commission and instead appointed Republican Michael Rich, to maintain the commission's political balance.
