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A week after Carmel Mayor Sue Finkam accused Indianapolis of “exporting its crime to the surrounding counties,” she and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett have agreed to lead a public safety summit for central Indiana leaders.
The Indianapolis Mayor’s Office announced the agreement Friday morning in a press release attributed to both Hogsett and Finkam.
The effort, officially named the Regional Mayors’ Public Safety Partnership Summit, will convene multiple times during the year. Mayors from communities in Boone, Hamilton, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion, Morgan and Shelby counties are invited to bring their police chiefs to the discussions.
The announcement comes after Finkam publicly complained about crime-fighting efforts in Indianapolis after a suspect who was arrested in a violent Carmel carjacking turned out to have a long rap sheet in Marion County.
“Carmel and other donut county residents pay the price when repeat offenders in Marion County cycle through the system without accountability,” Finkam wrote in a post on X on May 28. “Our residents deserve to be safe. And police officers, who repeatedly do their jobs and put themselves in harm’s way, deserve a system that works alongside them.
“We’ve invested in more personnel, technology and partnerships to keep Carmel safe. Enough is enough. This cannot be our new normal. It’s time Marion County does their part and holds criminals accountable.”
In a later post, Finkam said Indianapolis is “exporting its crime to the surrounding counties,” and those counties’ residents “are paying the price.”
According to The Indianapolis Star, Finkam sent a letter to Hogsett offering to co-chair a mayor’s task force on crime. It appears that he’s agreed.
“Crime takes a toll on every community,” the two mayors said in a statement about the summit. “Individuals who commit crimes often move among jurisdictions, creating challenges that no single community can solve alone. As mayors, we are committed to working together to address this critical issue on behalf of those we serve.
“As leaders of some of our nation’s most vibrant and dynamic communities, we look forward to expanding efforts that are already improving safety in our region and exploring solutions that benefit all who live, work, play and visit here.”
The 31-year-old man who was charged with committing the carjacking at the center of Finkam’s comments, Manuel Cary Ettress, has faced charges in about 40 cases in Indiana since 2015. Many of these charges are in “donut counties” that surround Marion County, along with Marion County itself. Many of these charges are low-level felonies, including theft with a prior conviction, or misdemeanors.
Ettress has a Carmel address. He’s currently being held in the Hamilton County Jail on a $1 million bond. His court-appointed attorney declined to comment.
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