Mayor Karen Freeman-Wilson is no longer seeking to create public safety positions in which a person would perform both firefighting and police duties.
Freeman-Wilson first proposed the idea in 2015 and along with other city officials, including Samuel Abegg, who was then president of Gary Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 61, traveled to visit Kalamazoo, Michigan, to learn about its public safety department.
The city, with a comparable population of Gary, has a fully integrated police, fire and emergency medical services department. Last year, the city went so far as to put money aside for funding 30 public safety positions in the current year's budget.