Officer of the Year

Less than two years ago, Candi Perry was named the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's officer of the year. Then she was honored as the department's top community policing officer for 2008.
Now, Perry faces the possibility of prison.





The celebrated officer -- who is credited with building bridges between the department and the Hispanic community -- is accused of lying to a detective during a homicide investigation.
Perry's indictment, handed down last week by a grand jury and filed Monday in Marion Superior Court, is the latest in a troubling string of IMPD officer arrests on misconduct-related charges during the past two years.
But this one is particularly prickly. Perry's attorney claims the officer is being harassed for her clumsy handling of an informant's tips and says her case shouldn't have become a criminal matter.
Even after her release from jail late Tuesday, her work as a neighborhood resource officer won raves from her district commander.
"We created a lot of new and better relationships in the Hispanic community because of her," said Maj. Paul Ciesielski. "I need five more officers like her."
Perry, 47, has been suspended and could face termination. The indictment charges her with felony official misconduct and misdemeanor false reporting. A felony conviction could result in six months to three years in prison.
Perry's legal trouble stems from her involvement in a homicide investigation, outside her usual duties of arranging neighborhood watches and block meetings, visiting schools and building links with minority businesses. She also has served as a Spanish translator for other officers.
The indictment is scant on details. It says only that Perry provided false information to another officer during a homicide investigation and that "the false information did substantially hinder any law enforcement process."
Representatives for IMPD and the prosecutor's office wouldn't elaborate, citing grand jury secrecy rules.
Perry's attorney, Robert Turner, said accusations focus on Perry's handling of a confidential informant who approached her soon after a fatal shooting in June, claiming to have information about the killer in an unspecified homicide.
"They are saying she withheld information, that she in fact knew the suspect or the witness and even had been dating one or both," said Turner, who was public safety director under then-Mayor Bart Peterson.
Perry has denied any such relationship, he said, or any attempt to protect anyone.



Turner defended her actions as those of someone unfamiliar with homicide investigation protocol and said she would fight the charges.
After receiving the informant's tips, Turner said, Perry passed them to a detective. But she quickly drew criticism for not providing the informant's name or contact information, which Turner said she didn't know.
Perry was able to reach the reluctant informant again, though whether she had to wait for him to call her or knew how to call the witness directly, Turner said, is a subject of dispute.
It's unclear what effect Perry's involvement had on the investigation into the slaying of Herman A. Clark, 48, a homeless man whose body was found June 25 in a park in the 3100 block of Rader Street on the Near Northside.
Police said they later arrested Dontae L. Davis, 22, who faces murder and robbery charges.
Perry became defensive and angry when the focus turned toward her conduct, Turner said. More recently, he said, she did not testify before the grand jury because Turner would not have been able to ask questions of her after prosecutors did.
"They interpreted everything as elusive," Turner said. "All she did was try to help; maybe clumsily, maybe in an agitated way after she was yelled at, but she isn't a homicide investigator."
Interim Public Safety Director Mark Renner said he did not know whether any detectives testified before the grand jury, adding that he was unaware of the probe until the indictment was announced.
"They have their own investigators on the grand jury," Renner said. "It is disappointing because I understand she was a fine officer."
Perry was hired by the Marion County Sheriff's Department four years ago and joined IMPD in the 2007 police merger, soon becoming the Northwest District's Hispanic liaison. Her personnel file was not released Wednesday.
Ciesielski, the district commander, said Perry was a goodwill ambassador for the police and helped alleviate fear of the police among Hispanics.
Several Hispanic community activists agreed.
"She has always been there for our community," Veronica Guerrero, a Westside business owner and community activist, said in Spanish. "So many people like her."