INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randal Taylor came to Indianapolis as a member of the Marion County Sheriff’s Department. He would have been happy to retire from there, then the merger with the Indianapolis Police Department happened in 2007, changing the trajectory of his career. 

Taylor has been at the helm of IMPD during some of the city’s darkest hours. In April 2021, a lone gunman shot and killed 8 people at a FedEx facility near Indianapolis International Airport. It is the largest mass shooting in the city’s history.

“The most difficult emotional thing for me was the FedEx shooting, just because I was out there so many hours with those families waiting with them until it was confirmed that their loved ones had passed,” Taylor said. “That was really difficult and I shared that with the officers.”

“Over the years in law enforcement, you see a lot of bad things, and a lot of times it is not easy, but you find a way to shed some of that stuff off,” Taylor said. “I have seen single homicides and homicides with multiple victims and typically, when I go out there, soon after I come home and take a shower, and when I’m getting out of the shower, I’m feeling a little bit better about things and ready to function, and that FedEx one came, it just did not work out that way. I remember talking to my wife and praying with my wife about it. I just couldn’t shake that for awhile. Fortunately, she was wise enough and could talk me through it. She was a huge incredible help.” 

Taylor’s wife is former WISH-TV Investigative Reporter Sandra Chapman. Taylor has leaned on her support through 34 years of marriage. Taylor is known to many in the community for his work with victims’ families. Prior to entering the ranks of IMPD’s command staff, he was often visible at crime scenes, lending a hand to the families and community impacted by violence. On April 9th, 2020, his strength was tested when Officer Breann Leath was murdered.   

“She was probably the most impactful,” Taylor said. “Not taking away from any of the others, but she was young, she was a superstar, could have been my daughter, and that is the difficult part of that.” 

2020 was a tough year for IMPD. Violent crime shook the city, murder and gun-related crimes soared, and in May 2020, civil unrest took over the city. Two officers were charged with using excessive force during the arrest of two protestors. Those officers were cleared by the department and recently acquitted in court. That weekend, Mayor Joe Hogsett and IMPD were criticized for not taking a firm stance to protect property and the city.  

“I understood to some extent, but I’m always amazed how some people feel that is a time to start looting, and those kinds of things, I just never agreed with that,” Taylor said. “I understand people were upset after George Floyd, peaceful protest is fine, but things started to get out of hand.”

Crime under Taylor has been a wave, but overall numbers provided by the department shows violent crime and murder rates are dropping from a record-high 250 murders in 2021. This year, the city is on pace to have fewer than 200 murders. However, the number of police shootings has radically increased this year. His parting words to his successor are the same passed on to him when he took the job.    

“Tell them to be mindful,” Taylor said. “People are going to question what you are doing, but they do it in a vacuum or in a one path kind of way. People don’t consider when things come in here, you have to consider how is it going to impact the officers, how is it going to impact the community, how it is going to impact my bosses.”

Taylor is expected to leave office by the end of the year or once a new chief is named by Mayor Hogsett.