May and June might be the peak tornado months in Indiana, but this summer, our severe weather threat has come from something other than tornadoes. After record breaking months of rain, destructive floods have caused widespread damage. Although recently, many Hoosiers have been able to breathe a sigh of relief, as summer continues and eventually turns into fall, our threat however is far from over. These dangerous weather patterns can happen at any time, day or night, and being prepared is the greatest defense we have.

Floods are actually the most common natural disaster in the U.S. While some take weeks to develop, others occur with very little notice. Before a flood occurs, one of the first things you should check – if you have one – is your home’s sump pump. Ensuring that the sump pump is working and has a battery-operated backup system can help prevent flooding in the lowest level of your home. Clearing debris from gutters and downspouts will also provide an extra layer of protection.

In addition, it is important to develop a family emergency plan and put together a disaster preparedness kit. These steps are a key part of preparing for any natural or manmade disaster – not just storms or flooding. The cornerstone of any safety plan is that it includes all the members in your family and ensures that everyone is on the same page about what they should do, where they should meet and who they should call in the event of an emergency.

This is important not only for households, but also schools, businesses and other places around the community. Last year, when Boonville High School was hit by a strong storm, they put their emergency plan into action, and the several hundred students who were there participating in after school activities were able to assemble in the designated safe areas without any injuries.

Making a disaster kit is another simple but very effective way to help keep you and your family safe. These kits should be stored in a waterproof, easy to carry container, bearing in mind that it could take up to three days to receive emergency assistance. Knowing that, your kit should include one gallon of water per person per day, a three day supply of non-perishable food items, first aid supplies, such as a thermometer, antibiotic ointment and Band-Aids, as well as other items, like a can opener, utensils and matches.

Finally, one thing that I have always stressed is the value of a weather radio. My wife Karen and I have relied on one for years, particularly at night when the worst tornadoes often occur. Weather radios can be used, even when the power is out, to receive warnings 24 hours a day, seven days a week; but don’t forget to keep extra batteries in your disaster kit!

A little bit of planning and preparation can help minimize the number of weather-related deaths and injuries and can help Hoosiers get back on their feet more quickly when disaster inevitably strikes. Chances are, you may have already adopted some of these safety tips, but part of being prepared is also sharing this message with others.

Do you know which neighbors have small children or other special needs family members who might need extra help during a natural disaster? I hope that you will consider those around you and share these tips – and even some of your own – with friends, neighbors and loved ones. We may not be able to control Mother Nature, but we can control our preparedness. To review these tips and more, please visit in.gov/dhs/3163.htm.

Pence: “If the final rule is not significantly improved…Indiana will not comply”

***State Will Challenge Legality of Rule***

Indianapolis – Governor Mike Pence issued the following statement in response to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issuing its final regulations limiting carbon dioxide emissions from existing power plants.  Known as the Clean Power Plan, the regulations impose a carbon dioxide emissions reduction requirement on each state.

“When it comes to energy policy, this Administration continues to place its environmental agenda ahead of the interests of Hoosier ratepayers, jobs and the economy. Here in Indiana, homeowners and businesses rely on coal-burning power plants for low-cost, reliable energy. Yet little to no consideration was given to states like ours throughout the development of the EPA’s final rule and that is simply not acceptable.

“Throughout this process, Indiana has called time and again for these ill-conceived rules to be withdrawn, and I informed the Administration that unless the final rule was demonstrably and significantly improved, Indiana would not comply. In the days ahead, my Administration will carefully review the final rule to determine if the Obama Administration was listening.

“If the final rule is not significantly improved, then Hoosiers can be assured that on behalf of families, businesses and other ratepayers, Indiana will not comply.

“Indiana will also continue to vigorously challenge the legality of this rule in the federal courts. Far too much is at stake for jobs and the economy in Indiana for us to do anything less.”
On June 24, 2015, Governor Pence sent President Obama a letter informing the President that Indiana would not comply with the Clean Power Plan unless the final rule was “demonstrably and significantly improved” from the proposed rule.  Governor Pence had previously written to EPA Administrator Gina McCarthy on December 1, 2014 describing the proposed rules as “ill-conceived and poorly constructed.”  In both letters, Governor Pence called for the withdrawal of the rules.

Dave Stafford for wwwtheindianalawyer.com

Evansville police “committed too many mistakes to pass the test of reasonableness” in a bungled home search and are not shielded from a federal excessive force lawsuit, the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Friday.

An armored phalanx of SWAT officers raided the home that 68-year-old Louise Milan shared with her two daughters. Officers investigating anonymous online threats against police began their search by smashing a window and the glass storm door – the front door was open – then lobbing flash bang grenades inside.

The 7th Circuit also noted a racial element in allowing Milan’s suit against the Evansville Police Department to move forward. Judges called events related to the bungled raid “almost inconceivable,” “dangerous” and “disturbing.”

The opinion affirmed denial of summary judgment for the police department on Milan’s excessive force claim, upholding a ruling by Judge William T. Lawrence  of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Indiana, Evansville Division.

Milan’s home was searched a day after authorities became aware of threats made against police through an unsecured Wi-Fi network in Milan’s home.

The heavily armed 11-member SWAT team, followed by a local TV news crew, descended on Louise Milan’s home with a search warrant in June 2012. “Police decided to search the Milan house – and in a violent manner,” Judge Richard Posner wrote for the panel in a scathing eight-page opinion in Louise Milan v. Billy Bolin, in his individual capacity as Evansville Police Department Chief, et al.,  15-1207.

“The members of the SWAT team rushed to the front door of the house, knocked, and without allowing a reasonable time — more than a few seconds — for a response … broke open the front door and a nearby window, and through these openings hurled two ‘flash bang’ grenades. … The police call them ‘distraction devices,’ an absurd euphemism; we called them ‘bombs’ in Estate of Escobedo v. Bender, 600 F.3d 770, 784–85 (7th Cir. 2010), and United States v. Jones, 214 F.3d 836, 837–38 (7th Cir. 2000)

Before the search of Milan’s home, which yielded no sign of criminal activity or male suspects, police had observed Derrick Murray sitting on a porch a few doors down. Murray previously had been convicted of intimidation for threatening police, and he ultimately pleaded guilty to posting the threats in the instant case.

After police searched Milan’s home, “It took them only a day to discover that it was indeed (Murray),” Posner wrote. “The police neglect of Murray is almost incomprehensible. His past made him a prime suspect. A day of investigating him would have nailed him, as we know because a day of investigating — the day after the violent search of the home — did nail him. …

“It took them only a day to discover that it was indeed he who was responsible — he had used Mrs. Milan’s open network to threaten the police. But rather than give him the SWAT-team treatment, the police politely requested that he come to police headquarters, which he did, where he was arrested without incident. … The police department’s kid-gloves treatment of Murray is in startling contrast to their flash-bang assault on Mrs. Milan’s home,” the panel noted.

“The district judge’s denial of the defendants’ motion for summary judgment appears eminently reasonable when one puts together the flash bangs, the skimpy basis for the search and its prematurity — the failure to check whether the (WiFi) network was open and the failure to conduct a more extensive investigation before deciding that flash bangs were appropriate means of initiating the search. … The failure to discover that the network was Mrs. Milan’s was a failure of responsible police practice,” Posner wrote.

During the course of the search, police handcuffed Milan and her 18-year-old daughter; Milan’s other daughter was not home at the time of the search. All of this was recorded on officers’ helmet-cam video, and scenes from the search were shown on local TV news. The panel was troubled by the images.

“The members of the team are seen on the tapes impressively clad in body armor and big helmets and carrying formidable rifles pointed forward. It would take a brave criminal to try to fight it out with them, and of course there was no criminal in the house and little reason to expect one to be there,” Posner wrote.

“The handcuffing of the daughter, looking indeed much younger than her 18 years, is shown on the helmet video along with the rest of the search, and she is so small, frail, utterly harmless looking, and completely unresisting that the sight of her being led away in handcuffs is disturbing. All that the SWAT officer had to do was take her by the hand and lead her out of the house, which was rapidly filling with smoke from the flash bangs; there was no conceivable reason to handcuff her.

“From what we can observe on the videos, all the members of the SWAT team were white, Mrs. Milan and her daughter black; the broadcasting of the videotape cannot have helped race relations in Evansville,” Posner wrote.

The panel also cited its previous Estate of Escobedo decision that cautioned against the use of flash bang devices, which can be lethal if a person is directly struck by one. In this case, the police defendants’ argument that they are shielded by qualified immunity falls short, the panel held.

“Precipitate use of flash bangs to launch a search has troubled us before, leading us to declare that ‘the use of a flash bang grenade is reasonable only when there is a dangerous suspect and a dangerous entry point for the police, when the police have checked to see if innocent individuals are around before deploying the device, when the police have visually inspected the area where the device will be used and when the police carry a fire extinguisher,’” Posner wrote.

“The police in this case flunked the test just quoted. True, they’d brought a fire extinguisher with them — but, as if in tribute to Mack Sennett’s Keystone Kops, they left it in their armored SWAT vehicle.”