Consultant finds Indianola police 'professional' and offers 34 recommendations; chief says many already underway

A consultant’s operational review presented to the Indianola City Council on June 1 concluded the Indianola Police Department is a “highly professional organization” while identifying 34 opportunities to improve efficiency and accountability.

Jared Bant of the Center for Public Safety Management said his team built recommendations from CAD data, interviews, focus groups and on-site observation. “We produced a final report that’s a comprehensive operational assessment,” Bant said, adding the firm does not view the items as evidence of systemic failure but as ways to refine practices.

Key recommendations include establishing an administrative-sergeant role to centralize internal-affairs investigations and administrative oversight, reclassifying some civilian clerical jobs into records and property/evidence roles, strengthening evidence‑room controls with periodic audits, improving quartermaster inventory for equipment and ammunition, adopting a policy-subscription service and pursuing state accreditation.

Bant recommended the city work with Warren County dispatch to establish a CAD priority matrix and urged better capture of officer administrative work in CAD so workload measures reflect time spent writing reports and follow-up. He also urged data-driven traffic-enforcement strategies tied to collision reduction.

Chief Hawkins said the department has already implemented several changes since receiving the report. “We’ve redesigned our citizen complaint process, moved ammunition to a centralized locked location this morning and initiated partial evidence audits,” Hawkins said. He also said the city budget includes an administrative-sergeant position for FY27 but staffing constraints may delay filling it until recruit classes are complete.

On evidence audits, the consultant cited the International Association of Property and Evidence guidance that external audits are commonly done every two to three years; Bant recommended a full inventory audit after leadership transition. Hawkins said full external audits can be costly; the department is exploring cost‑effective options including outside-agency assistance.

Council members pressed staff on specifics: how the proposed sewer‑rate increases would affect budgets (a separate agenda item), how the administrative-sergeant role would function, and the timeframe for HR Green’s rate study. Staff said the HR Green proposal is expected soon and that some recommendations will be gradual given capital and facility limits.

The consultancy’s findings were paired with the police annual report for 2025, presented immediately after. Chief Hawkins reported the department had 31 authorized positions in 2025 (24 sworn, seven civilian), handled about 13,360 calls for service and continued to expand programs such as K9, SROs, UAS operations and regional tactical partnerships. He emphasized the department’s direction toward better data capture and policy alignment as part of implementing CPSM’s recommendations.

What’s next: the council heard the report, asked follow-up questions and acknowledged that several items (citizen-complaint redesign, ammunition storage changes, partial evidence audits, policy-subscription exploration) are already active. The administrative-sergeant position remains budgeted in FY27; hiring depends on staffing availability. The department and CPSM recommended staged implementation and continued council oversight.