The head of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police says the fact that the suspect accused of stabbing two police officers this week had his bond lowered for burglary shows that the County’s criminal justice system is broken and is calling on lawmakers to help fix it.
20-year-old Deonta Williams was arrested for attempted murder and was booked into jail on a preliminary charge of aggravated battery for allegedly stabbing two officers in the 1400 block of Fairfield Avenue. Williams was out on bond for a burglary. A Marion County Judge reduced his original bond from $25,000 to $750. And Williams was able to post bond with the assistance of The Bail Project in April and was on GPS monitoring awaiting trial.
Rick Snyder of the FOP reiterated his call for bail reform, particularly for violent offenders. And he, along with Rev. Charles Harrison of the 10 Point Collation have called on Indiana lawmakers to step in change the law to help address Indy’s crime issue. For example, the union wants a law passed requiring those not-for-profit bail groups to face the same regulations as private bail bondsmen, holding them responsible if a suspect doesn’t show up for a court date or is rearrested while out on bond.
You can hear Snyder in the Leon-Tailored Audio. It runs for 19 minutes.
