Seven people killed on the streets of Gary in less than one week.
A pair of teens were shot to death Thursday morning — in broad daylight — at a suspected drug house on the city's West Side.
Later, the police commission quietly acknowledged six resignations from the force. The official police roster carries 204 names, spokesman Sgt. Thomas Decanter said, but that includes at least six who are off on extended sick leave.
Homicides are up 71 percent compared with last year this time. Thirty-six people dead from violent acts so far in 2015.
As crime rises in Gary, its police are leaving for private sector jobs and law enforcement agencies that pay more. And although Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson said Tuesday that even if there were 500 officers, not every crime could be prevented, cops on the street say they are overwhelmed with daily calls, leaving no time to be proactive in ways that could have an impact on criminal activity.
Veteran officers recall only two other times in 30 years when the city had fewer than 200 men and women available to protect the city — in 1984 and 1993. In 1999, the Post-Tribune reported that a Department of Justice study found that the city needed 300 police officers, and the agency released a $3 million grant to hire 41 officers to reach that goal.
Of course, the population in the late 1990s was hovering at 100,000, and the number of crimes was higher then. About 20,000 fewer people live in Gary now, but the sparse patrol division must still cover all 57 square miles.
The city has a contract with the Fraternal Order of Police that sets a minimum of 12 officers for each shift, but recently, the midnight and afternoon turns have fallen short, police said. As few as five officers have worked the midnight shift, police said, and eight during the afternoon shift, traditionally the busiest time.
To remedy the outflow, the mayor recently suggested that a significant raise is in the works, and $10,000 is a number that's been floating around.
Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 61 President Sam Abegg said that kind of raise "most certainly would quell a lot of problems we are having with the mass exodus."
Late Friday afternoon, the mayor released a statement saying she will propose a $10,000 pay increase for police and firefighters over a three-year period: $2,500 this year, $5,000 next year and $2,500 in 2017. She said the offer includes the need to restructure both departments and reassign some personnel who would work for both.
Before the mayor's announcement, Abegg said, "Anything less than 20 percent would be a slap in the face. It would still keep Gary at the low end of the scale, but the salaries would be more competitive." He declined to comment further, saying he does not intend to negotiate "in the newspaper."
Gary police are the lowest paid in Lake County, with a patrolman's salary at $39,304 per year. Part-time Gary City Council members earn $28,727, the second-highest in the state.
The police commission is processing applicants who have completed written and physical tests, and last month accepted applications for another round of job candidates. But the hiring process can take up to two years.
Abegg said that if the salary were increased, the Gary Police Department would be a more desirable employer. "You get to work with the best of the best as far as experienced officers," he said. The force provides opportunities for officers to join the SWAT team, work as an investigator and learn crime scene evidence-gathering and other specialty training.
"It's why a lot of us, myself included, chose to come here," he said.
Freeman-Wilson said she views the Gary Police Department as "a true family. Through the good times, dealing with tragedy and the challenges that they experience, they always rally around."
"That sense of family has always been there," she said.