One year after in-custody death of Herman Whitfield III, faith leaders call on DOJ to investigate IMPD

Faith leaders in Indianapolis have asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the city’s police department. The request follows a year that included both the in-custody death of Herman Whitfield III, and an incident in which Indianapolis Metropolitan Police officers shot at a man parked in his grandmother’s driveway.

Whitfield III died on April 25, 2022 after six IMPD officers responded to his mental health crisis at his parent’s northeast side home. Whitfield III was tased twice and placed in the prone position until he became unconscious.

Whitfield was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital shortly afterward.The Marion County Coroner’s Office ruled his death a homicide, citing the cause of death as “cardiopulmonary arrest in the setting of law enforcement subdual, prone restraint, and conducted electrical weapon use.” No criminal charges have been filed against the officers, who are still working for the department.

Last December, police shot Anthony Maclin while he was asleep in a car parked in his grandmother’s driveway. His grandmother called the police because she didn’t recognize the car, unaware that her grandson was inside. Officers fired about 30 shots at the vehicle, and Maclin was shot three times and hospitalized.

At a press conference Tuesday, members of advocacy groups Faith in Indiana, the Concerned Clergy, and family members of Whitfield and Maclin gathered to call for justice in the cases. In addition to filing a complaint with the DOJ, they demanded the officers involved be fired and criminally charged.

“We’ve come today because we want to let the community know that we do not feel safe with the current culture of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department,” said Darrell Brooks, pastor of the New Liberty Missionary Baptist Church. “We haven’t felt safe for a long time.”

Whitfield III’s father, Herman Whitfield II, said at the press conference that he and his wife wanted mental health help for their son the night he was killed, and an ambulance transport to a hospital. Whitfield’s family filed a federal lawsuit against the city, which resulted in the release of the entirety of the body-worn camera footage.

“I'll miss Herman, and I'm sure the community will,” Whitfield II said. “And we all just need to come together and just demand that IMPD and its officers be held accountable for the terrible trauma and tragedies caused in my home on April 25.”

Maclin’s grandmother, Vicki Driver, also spoke at Tuesday’s press conference. She said she no longer trusts the police after the shooting of her grandson.

“Sadly, too many families have experienced a tragedy at the hands of the police,” Driver said. “When that happens, we have to come together with others that are concerned about the same issue, and speak and fight for what is right.”

Afterwards, community members walked across the street to IMPD’s north district office and prayed. Photographs of Whitfield, signs and flowers were placed outside.

“This department, this institution, that we rely on to serve and protect, has lost integrity with this community,” Brooks said. “And something needs to be done.”

Contact WFYI criminal justice reporter Katrina Pross at kpross@wfyi.org. Follow on Twitter: @katrina_pross.

Pross is a Corps Member of Report for America, an initiative of The GroundTruth Project.