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Bloomington offers cash incentives for Officers to live within City limits
The City of Bloomington has introduced details of a pilot program announced last fall designed to help retain and recruit police officers and deepen the Bloomington Police Department’s connections in the community. The pilot program includes support for housing and for take-home cars focused on BPD officers living in the city. In combination with other enhancements, such as increased numbers of social workers and neighborhood specialists, resident-based reviews of racial equity and the future of policing, and continual review of best practices through the Board of Public Safety, these changes are designed to continue to improve BPD’s effectiveness in protecting public safety and sustaining public confidence in and relationships with the BPD.
The new BPD Housing Incentive Program (BPDHIP) encourages members of the BPD to live in the community and among the people they serve by providing eligible applicants with housing subsidies. This program, being piloted through the end of 2022, will offer officers in good standing who reside within the city limits one of the following supports:
- A one-time down payment assistance in the amount of $12,000 to purchase a home; or
- Monthly rental or lease payment assistance in the amount of $500 for up to five years.
In addition to the housing allowance program, an Individually Issued Vehicle Program will assign BPD vehicles to police officers who live in the city for their on-duty, off-duty, and take-home use as a means of promoting the presence of the BPD throughout the community. Some officers who live outside the city but inside the county and provide specially trained services such as hostage negotiation, water rescue or critical incident response, will also participate in the IIVP. The BPD estimates that up to 20 officers will currently qualify according to these criteria for participation in the IIVP, and 10 for the housing subsidy program. At the end of 2022, the City will evaluate the effectiveness of both pilot programs in achieving their goals.
The BPDHIP and the IIVP were proposed during the 2021 Bloomington City Council budget hearings to address challenges of retaining and hiring quality police officers in recent years. Both pilot programs are funded in the 2021 budget and will depend upon renewal through the 2022 budget process. Together with housing and vehicle incentives, the BPD’s 2021 approved budget proposals included the addition of five new non-sworn positions including two new social workers, two new neighborhood resource specialists and a data analyst, a stated goal of retaining a corps of 100 sworn officers during 2021, and the creation of a community-based task force to review and make recommendations about the future of policing.
Indiana Department of Education celebrates recertified STEM Schools
The Indiana Department of Education (IDOE) today announced that 88 schools across Indiana are certified as leaders in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), with seven of these schools earning recertification this year.
Included in the list:
- Grandview Elementary, Monroe County Community School Corporation
- Batchelor Middle School, Monroe County Community School Corporation
- Academy of Science & Entrepreneurship – Monroe County Community School Corporation
- Unionville Elementary School- Monroe County Community School Corporation
- Brown County Junior High School – Brown County School Corporation
- Brooklyn Elementary School, MSD of Martinsville
- Columbus Signature Academy New Tech High School – Bartholomew Consolidated School Corporation
- Edgewood Intermediate School – Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation
- Edgewood Primary School – Richland-Bean Blossom Community School Corporation
- Loogootee High School – Loogootee Community School District
- Medora Elementary, Medora Community School Corporation
- Orleans Elementary, Orleans Community Schools