GARY | Following federal indictments of his three top policemen, Mayor Rudy Clay likely will appoint Patrol Division Cmdr. Lawrence Wright as acting chief of the Police Department, sources with knowledge of the situation said Monday.
Chief Thomas Houston is retiring from the department, according to several unnamed sources, while Deputy Chief Thomas Branson and Sgt. Thomas Decanter are slated to be reassigned to lower-ranking positions, two defense attorneys said.
Mayor Rudy Clay has scheduled an 11 a.m. news conference Tuesday to announce his decisions about changes in the leadership of the department.
Wright, who has more than 20 years on the force, declined to comment Monday night on the announcement.
Houston, Branson and Decanter were charged by a federal grand jury Wednesday in an eight-count felony indictment alleging they beat and wrongfully arrested four city residents during an investigation into a burglary at the chief's home.
Most of the allegations relate to Houston, who faces six counts and 10 years in prison if convicted.
Houston turned 65 in November, which means his removal from the chief's post would place him under a city law that requires police officers to retire when they reach that age, unless they are serving as chief or deputy chief.
Branson was indicted on two civil rights violations and one count of lying to the FBI, while Decanter was charged with a single count of civil rights deprivation.
Thomas Vanes, who is defending Decanter, said his client expects to be demoted to a lower-ranking position, but nothing more drastic than that.
Former Gary Mayor Scott King, who is defending Branson, said his client is likely to be reassigned to another command position, but "there's not going to be a resignation or anything like that."
Branson and Decanter are expected to plead not guilty at an arraignment hearing Friday. Houston still did not have an attorney Monday, and he has made no public comments about his case. He could not be reached Monday.
The indictment says police believed the four victims had information about who was behind the June 1 break-in at Houston's home, which happened about a week after the 42-year police veteran was appointed chief.
When the victims denied knowledge of the incident, Houston beat them and had them jailed for three days before releasing them without filing any charges, the indictment says.
Clay declined to announce any immediate action against the three officers when the indictments were unveiled. On Monday, he defended his decision to take a more thoughtful approach to the situation instead of making a knee-jerk decision.
"The scenario at hand involved the three top police officials, and subsequently my decision to wait for a few days to act came from my desire to not disrupt the protection of our city," the mayor said in a statement. "In fact, public safety statistics show that crime went down during the days since the indictments were announced."
