Skirvin calls for more pressure on prosecutors in Beech Grove mayoral bid

Indianapolis, Indiana – On Friday, a Marion County mayoral candidate argued that the mayors of Indianapolis’ suburbs should work together to pressure prosecutors to seek harsher punishments for violent offenders.

Beech Grove, a city of about 14,000 people in southeast Marion County, is one of a select few communities outside the purview of the combined Indianapolis-Marion County government, and Rick Skirvin is the Republican nominee for mayor. Democratic incumbent Dennis Buckley is not running for re-election as mayor of Beech Grove. There are only two candidates competing in the general election on November 7: Skirvin and Democrat James Coffman.

A problem underscored by this week’s double shooting outside a Beech Grove bar, according to Skirvin, is that county officials are not doing a good enough job of enforcing existing gun regulations against violent felons.

“The gun violence that we have on record right now are gun laws I think we should tap into,” he said, adding suburban mayors should work together to push prosecutors to follow through on firearm charges.

Skirvin has stated his desire to establish a juvenile diversion program. When asked what that would entail, he responded that local officials should collaborate with at-risk youngsters to identify causes that might be drawing them toward a life of crime and then seek to address those issues. Skirvin declared he opposes the harsher gun control measures that both of Indianapolis’ mayoral candidates have embraced, such as raising the purchase age to 21 and outlawing the sale of military-style firearms. Gun laws adopted by the City-County Council would only apply outside the boundaries of Beech Grove’s city limits, not inside them.

“The people that commit these atrocities are not legal gun owners,” he said. “Prosecuting those gun crimes and locking the people up for a good amount of time as the law allows is a good step forward.”

The Beech Grove Shops, the main Amtrak maintenance facility, is by far the town of Beech Grove’s largest job. Skirvin claimed that Beech Grove’s capacity to recoup residential property taxes was constrained, thus he sought to attract more businesses. He declared that he intends to apply for federal assistance to clean up vacant lots and then sell them to businesses.