(A) Board established. The Winamac Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners pursuant to I.C. 36-8-9-1 et seq. is hereby established (hereinafter referred to as the "Board").
(B) Board composition and term.
(1) The Winamac Town Council shall serve as Winamac Board of Metropolitan Police Commissioners.
(2) The Town Council may not appoint a police officer employed by the town to serve on the Board.
(3) A Board member vacates his/her position on the Board when said Board member is no longer a member of the Town Council.
(C) Board powers and duties.
(1) The Board shall elect officers at the first regularly scheduled meeting of the new year. Said officers shall be a president and vice-president. The Clerk-Treasurer of the Town of Winamac shall serve as the secretary to the Board.
(2) The Winamac Town Attorney shall serve as attorney for the Board unless circumstances require the employment of a separate attorney.
(3) The Board secretary shall prepare minutes of each Board meeting and said minutes shall be approved at the next scheduled Board meeting.
(4) The Board shall meet a minimum of four times per year with proper publication of notice of the meetings as legally required.
(D) Board compensation, bond, oath.
(1) A Board member who is also a member of the Winamac Town Council may not receive compensation as a Board member.
(2) A Board member who is also a member of the Winamac Town Council is not required to post a bond.
(3) This section applies to all Board members. Before performing any function of a Board member, an individual shall take and subscribe an oath or affirmation before the Pulaski County Circuit Court Clerk that, in each appointment or removal made by the Board to or from the Town Police Department, the Board member will not appoint or remove a member of the Town Police Department because of the political affiliation of the person or for another cause or reason other than that of the fitness of the person.
(E) Appointment of Police Department employees.
(1) The Board may appoint, subject to the qualifications for employment as set forth in I.C. 36-8-8-19 "Baseline Statewide Physical and Mental Examination", as many persons as necessary to serve in the Police Department of the Town of Winamac.
(2) The Board shall grandfather in and appoint the currently serving Town Marshal to the position of Police Chief.
(3) The Board, at such time as necessary, shall appoint one person to serve as Chief of Police.
(4) All persons appointed to be members of or employed by the Winamac Police Department must be of good moral character and serve only during good behavior.
(5) The Board may provide that all appointments to the Winamac Police Department are probationary for a period not to exceed one year. If the Board finds upon recommendation of the Chief of the department during the probationary period that the conduct or capacity of a member is not satisfactory, the Board shall notify the member in writing that the member is being suspended or that the member will not receive a permanent appointment. If a member is notified that the member will not receive a permanent appointment, the member's employment immediately ceases. Otherwise, at the expiration of the probationary period, the probationary member is considered regularly employed.
(F) Police Department employee compensation.
(1) The Board may recommend and the Winamac Town Council shall determine the compensation to be paid to members of the Police Department in amounts that are just and reasonable.
(2) The Winamac Town Council shall appropriate a sum sufficient to pay the salaries of the members of the Winamac Police Department.
(3) The Town of Winamac is responsible for the payment of expenses incurred by a paid police officer of Winamac who suffers an injury or contracts an illness during the performance of the officer's duty pursuant to the provisions of I.C. 36-8-9-8.
(G) Police governance, rules, discipline.
(1) The Board may make general and special rules for the government and discipline of the Winamac Police Department and may make special and general orders to the Department through the Police Chief, who is the executive head of the Winamac Police Department.
(2) The operation, management, and control of the Winamac Police Department is governed by statutes applicable to the management and control of other municipal police departments if those statutes are consistent with this section.
(3) The Board constitutes the Safety Board of the Town of Winamac for purposes of the suspension, demotion, or dismissal of any member of the Winamac Police Department. Proceeds for Winamac Police Department shall be conducted in the matter prescribed by I.C. 36-8-3-4. The disciplinary provisions of I.C. 36-8-3-4.1 also apply to the Safety Board and the Police Chief.
(4) The Board may make general and special rules for the government and discipline of the Winamac Police Department and may make special and general order to the Department through the Police Chief, who is the executive head of the Winamac Police Department.
(H) Police officer safety. The Town of Winamac shall provide each active member of the Winamac Police Department with body armor for the torso. The town shall replace the body armor for the torso according to the replacement recommended by the manufacturer of the body armor of the torso. An active member of the Police Department shall not be required to pay for maintenance of the body armor for the torso furnished by the Town of Winamac. Body armor for the torso provided by the town remains the property of the town. The town may sell the body armor when it becomes unfit for the use and all money received shall be paid into the town general fund.
(Ord. 16 of 2021, passed 10-11-2021)