Indianapolis area Republican members of the Indiana Senate unveiled Wednesday their plan to tackle rising crime in the Capitol city and other parts of the state.
State Sens. Michael Crider (R-Greenfield), Patricia Miller (R-Indianapolis), Scott Schneider (R-Indianapolis), Brent Waltz (R-Greenwood) and R. Michael Young (R-Indianapolis) are authoring a crime-reduction package which they say will better protect Hoosier citizens by keeping police officers safe, providing prosecutors stronger sentencing tools, directing funds to high-crime areas and denying record expungement to violent felons.
- Young’s Senate Bill 559 increases the sentence for a crime by 20 years if a firearm was pointed or discharged at a police officer during the commission of the crime.
- Schneider is authoring Senate Bill 92 to strengthen sentencing for violent felons who unlawfully possess a deadly weapon and for criminals who possess a deadly weapon while dealing with controlled substances. The proposal also adds offenses like resisting law enforcement, child molestation, burglary, robbery and battery to the list of crimes that are eligible for a sentencing enhancement if a deadly weapon is used to commit the crime.
- Crider, Colonel and former director of the Indiana Department of Natural Resources division of law enforcement, is authoring Senate Bill 94 to provide prosecutors stronger sentencing tools by modifying the statute of limitations for filing rape charges.
- Waltz’s Senate Bill 551 would establish a police-enhancement pilot program that will direct $200,000 per year to Marion, Lake and Allen counties for the next two years.
- Miller’s Senate Bill 164 denies record expungement to criminals with two convictions using a deadly weapon.
