GARY | Gary police Detective Lorenzo Davis was sitting a handcuffed man onto a curb in the Delaney public homes when a voice rang from a nearby apartment.
"What's the mayor doing in the projects?" a woman yelled.
What Gary Mayor Rudy Clay was doing Saturday was riding along with two Gary officers in an attempt, Clay said, to see firsthand his department in action, and maybe help boost morale.
"There's been some uneasiness," Clay said of tensions within the department over budget and overtime pay cuts. "We're short on police in Gary, Ind."
About 41 short, to be exact, according to Clay, who said the city should have a minimum of 257 budgeted officers. But as of Saturday, that number was down to 216, Clay said.
Clay said he is hoping to reverse the hemorrhaging department by hiring new officers. He said he told as much to the Indiana Distressed Unit Appeals Board last week when the panel agreed to some tax cap concessions for the city.
How Clay might fund more officers facing a massive budget deficit is still unclear.
Saturday's ride-along turned into a king of campaigning tour for the mayor, who jumped out of the squad -- co-piloted by reserve Officer Ron Stoner -- to shake hands with residents, some who were surprised to see Clay on their streets.
"Can I talk to Rudy Clay?" one young boy asked Davis at the Dorie Miller Homes neighborhood.
Across the small street of the homes, one of many walls was spray-painted "RIP Lil Deezy."
Clay, with cufflinks, pressed shirt and bulletproof vest, sauntered onto a neighborhood basketball court to a group of young men shooting hoops. They gladly tossed Clay the ball.
After a few labored dribbles, Clay missed his shots. His temporary teammates fared much better.
"Do it for the mayor!" some of the young men yelled, slamming professional-caliber dunks into the rim.
Clay's stint would prove tame, if not totally uneventful: one drug bust, reports of gunshots and a drunken pedestrian.
Among his list of post-ride-along to-dos, Clay said, are to send the department's overworked dispatch center some help, as well as speed up the booking and report-taking process.
