This brief is adapted from notes taken by Documenters Franklin Bennett, Kelli Jack-Kelly and Megan Haines, who covered the December Citizens’ Police Complaint Board meeting. 📝 Read more about what happened.
The Citizens’ Police Complaint Board reviewed four complaints on Dec. 9 for their final meeting of 2024. One of the complaint cases was sustained by the board in a previous meeting, and two cases were presented to the board for the first time.
Chief exonerates officer in previous complaint
The board reviewed a previous complaint case from an October meeting regarding officer misconduct and excessive force.
In one case, Mike and Melissa Bova alleged that during an overdose call, an IMPD officer who was later reprimanded said, “Your son is a dirtbag and not worth investigating.”
Before the meeting, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Christopher Bailey exonerated the other officer at the scene, Officer Kelli Cohan.
First complaint: Officer harassment of a sex trafficking victim
The board reviewed a complaint about an incident involving human trafficking in October 2023. Shannon Wagoner was attempting to file a complaint about a previous landlord who she believed was grooming her for human trafficking. Wagoner said she was repeatedly harassed by the officer, which led her to file the complaint.
The board recommended that Officer Omar Cisneros be exonerated after an internal affairs investigation.
Second complaint: More officer harassment
The board then reviewed a complaint case from Jessica Norman, who alleged that she attempted to file a harassment complaint against a third party, but was prevented from doing so by Officer Bryan Reed Jr. He said she wasn’t allowed to file a complaint, since she had a restraining order against her.
Reed said that Norman was disruptive and refused to leave the police station. Body camera footage, though, dismissed those claims.
The board determined that Reed acted inappropriately. They forwarded the complaint to Chief Bailey for further review.
What’s next?
The next Citizens’ Police Complaint Board meeting is Jan. 13, 2025.
Correction: In an earlier version of this article, Mirror Indy misstated the name of the officer who allegedly called the overdose victim a “dirtbag.” That officer was not named in the meeting.
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