Indy community leaders who called for justice for Herman Whitfield III are wondering how to move forward after two Indianapolis police officers were acquitted of criminal charges in his death.
A jury’s decision to rule Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers Adam Ahmad and Steven Sanchez not guilty in the death of Whitfield, a 39-year-old Black pianist who died in police custody in April 2022, is evoking familiar feelings among Indy’s Black residents.
Meanwhile, Mayor Joe Hogsett days after the verdict announced the expansion of a pilot program that sends mental health professionals in place of police officers to respond to such mental health-related emergency calls.
The officers were found not guilty Dec. 6 of involuntary manslaughter, reckless homicide and battery following a weeklong trial, but some community members believe Whitfield’s death wouldn’t have happened had the officers handled the situation differently.
“They should have been able to handle (Whitfield’s call) without deadly force,” said David Rasheed, a 71-year-old westsider who’s lived in Indianapolis nearly all of his life.
Rasheed has had many friends and family members join IMPD over the years, but he feels Whitfield’s death embodies a systemic problem in policing.
He remembers the death of Michael Taylor, a 16-year-old who died in police custody in 1987 in Indianapolis. His death was ruled a suicide, but many community members doubted the official police narrative.
Those types of cases, Rasheed said, take years for communities to heal from — and the hurt that occurs never totally fades away.
“Things like that are never forgotten,” he said. “It’s always there. And then when something else happens, those past instances come back to your mind.”
Jon Howe, a business owner who also serves as president of the West Indianapolis Neighborhood Congress, said he believes officers are treating people of color differently than white people, leading to a mistrust of officers.
“It creates hostility between regular people and police when we don’t have faith in the police that they’re going to police themselves,” Howe said, “and right now, the police are not policing the police.”
As the Whitfield family pursues a civil lawsuit against Indianapolis, city officials are promising to dedicate more resources to a program that seeks to prevent situations like this from ever happening.
Meanwhile, some are hoping that Whitfield’s music will remain accessible to the community.
Renewed focus on mental health
On Dec. 9 city officials announced the expansion of the Clinician-Led Community Response program, which is operated by Indianapolis-based Stepping Stones Therapy.
The program is made up of licensed behavioral health professionals to respond to people in crisis. The teams, which respond to calls in IMPD’s downtown and east districts, will now also respond to calls from the 192,000 residents living in the north district beginning in early 2025, city officials said. Whitfield died in the north district in 2022 while officers were handcuffing him at his parents’ home.
“More of our neighbors than ever will be able to access the care that they need, and this means great things for our city as a whole,” Hogsett said at a news conference.
He said the Office of Public Health and Safety would cover the additional cost within its own budget. No employees are being added.
Clinician-led teams are designed to respond to 911 calls where someone is experiencing suicidal thoughts, psychiatric emergencies or emotional or psychological distress.
The program, which launched in January with 24 staff members, has responded to more than 900 calls in 2024, city officials said.
Clinician-led teams can also receive assistance from IMPD’s Mobile Crisis Assistance Team in case there is a threat during their visit.
The crisis assistance unit, which started in 2017, pairs police officers with a mental health professional trained in deescalation tactics and crisis intervention. Crisis assistance units responded to more than 2,300 calls through Sept. 30 this year, only 19 of which resulted in arrests, according to IMPD.
While 911 or 988 callers can specifically request that IMPD send a crisis assistance unit, they are only available to respond to calls between 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m. Whitfield was experiencing a mental health crisis at 3 a.m.
IMPD Chief Chris Bailey said he sees value in expanding the crisis assistance unit, but only if there are enough clinicians to staff it.
“If it’s just cops, then we’re defeating the purpose,” Bailey said in a recent virtual town hall to discuss the program. “There’s not a ton of clinicians that want to work overnight, so we’re staging it the best we can to the hours in which we see the most need.”
The move to expand the clinician-led program is a welcome first step toward investing in more licensed mental health professionals to prevent tragedies from happening in the first place, said LaNette Boone with Faith in Indiana, an Indy-based nonprofit community advocacy organization.
“While a guilty verdict can serve as some sense of accountability, investing in more licensed mental health professionals is a proactive step toward preventing these tragedies from happening in the first place,” Boone told Mirror Indy. “Addressing mental illness with the right care and expertise is crucial to ensuring that such incidents don’t escalate into violence or injustice.
‘What a talent’
While the expansion of the clinician-led teams may help in future calls, it’s little comfort for Whitfield’s family and friends.
Mali Bacon was a classmate of Whitfield’s at Brebeuf Jesuit Preparatory High School, where she remembers him as a gifted pianist.
“When Herman played, you couldn’t hear anything else — he captivated the entire student body,” said Bacon, co-founder of Indianapolis-based creative advocacy agency GANGGANG.
“I’m disappointed that Herman’s death could have been prevented and that truth may get lost because of this verdict. Far too often we are calling for help and finding danger from those in place to protect,” she added.
When Bacon worked at Indy Arts Council, she created the Featured Artist program for Art & Soul, an annual celebration of Black culture. In 2009, Whitfield was one of four emerging artists to be spotlighted, along with Gabrielle Patterson.
“Herman was a bit shy about opening up, but when he played the piano, he was open and smiling and receptive to the journey we were all about to embark on. I have never forgotten that,” Patterson said. “What a talent. What a quiet kindness that I truly admired.”
Patterson, a poet, said that as a person of color living in Indiana, she was not surprised by the not-guilty verdict.
“Our police officers, the mayor and policy makers have a responsibility to rethink how policing is handled when it comes to those with mental health challenges,” she said.
Patterson hopes Whitfield will be remembered with the “pride, love and joy” that his music brought to everyone “lucky enough to be a part of it with him.”
“I want this city to be so lucky. Let’s create a space where we can listen to his music, where we can watch him play. Is that in an art center or museum or history center? I don’t know, but what I do know, after what’s happened, is: Is it not worth the conversation?”
Claire Rafford, Enrique Saenz and Amanda Kingsbury contributed to this story.
Peter Blanchard covers local government. Reach him at 317-605-4836 or peter.blanchard@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on X @peterlblanchard.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
