Terre Haute State Police Post to consolidate with Putnamville

INDIANAPOLIS -- On Thursday, Indiana State Police Superintendent Paul Whitesell held a Command Meeting with department command personnel from across the state to announce the planned consolidations of State Police Posts.

Along with the consolidations, several existing state police posts will have counties added to or removed from the present district boundaries. The changes announced affect the internal operation of the state police and will have no impact on the services provided to the public.

Locally, this will affect the counties served by the Putnamville State Police Post. With the closure of the Terre Haute post, Putnamville will now serve Putnam, Clay, Sullivan, Vigo, Parke and Vermillion counties.

Hendricks and Morgan counties, which are currently served by Putnamville, will transfer to other districts. Hendricks will be part of the Indianapolis district, while Morgan will be part of the Bloomington district.

The changes in the Putnamville District will be effective July 1.

Superintendent Whitesell announced at the command meeting that the consolidations will not result in involuntary job loss by any civilian or police personnel. All civilian personnel will have the opportunity to transfer to a position at other state police facilities.

State police road troopers, detectives and supervisory squad sergeants will continue serving within the counties they are presently assigned. The District and Assistant District Commanders of the consolidated posts will receive new assignments that will not result in loss of rank.

Other posts being consolidated are:

* Connersville Post will consolidate with the Pendleton Post effective September 1, 2010.

* Redkey Post will consolidate into portions of the Fort Wayne, Pendleton and Peru Posts effective November 1, 2010.

Other posts affected by the consolidations and that will have changes to their existing county boundaries are:

* The Indianapolis Post will also add Hancock and Hamilton Counties from the present day Pendleton Post. The Indianapolis Post will serve the seven counties of Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Johnson, Marion and Shelby.

* The Peru Post will add Grant County from the present day Redkey Post. The Peru Post will serve the seven counties of Cass, Fulton, Grant, Howard, Miami, Tipton and Wabash.

* The Versailles Post will add Franklin County from the present day Connersville Post. The Versailles Post will serve the ten counties of Bartholomew, Dearborn, Decatur, Franklin, Jackson, Jefferson, Jennings, Ohio, Ripley and Switzerland.

* The Fort Wayne Post will add Blackford County and Jay County from the present day Redkey Post. The consolidated Fort Wayne Post will serve the 11 counties of Adams, Allen, Blackford, DeKalb, Jay, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells and Whitley.

* The Pendleton Post will add Delaware, Fayette, Henry, Randolph, Rush, Union, and Wayne Counties. The consolidated Pendleton Post will serve the counties of Fayette, Henry, Madison, Randolph, Rush, Union and Wayne.

The consolidations announced will also result in changes of some state police radio dispatch operations. As the date of the change nears, there will be future announcements to notify the public what number to call to reach the state police post that serves their particular county.

As always, in the event of an emergency, the best number to call is 9-1-1. Additionally state police personnel will be contacting county officials in the counties of the posts that are being consolidated to coordinate for a smooth transition.

In March of 2010 the Indiana State Police consolidated the operations of the former Seymour Post with the Versailles Post. At that time, it was addressed that the state police must be good stewards of the tax dollars entrusted and we are utilizing advancements in technology to provide the most efficient police services possible to the citizens of Indiana.

Also noted at that time was the fact that the present post locations were based on geography and technological capabilities of the 1930s. While the geography remains the same, the technological advancements of police vehicle in-car computers allow for wireless transfer of traffic citations, crash reports, criminal case information and many other reports that previously required state police officers to drive to an office location to turn in paperwork.

As for the possibility of future consolidations -- as was stated at the time of the Seymour/Versailles consolidation -- such options remain open due to the continuous evolution of technological advances. It is a standard part of ISP operation to regularly evaluate the best practices to ensure efficient, cost effective and quality delivery of law enforcement services.