Thread by @WIBC_EricBerman

.@GovHolcomb announces Indiana State Police will begin wearing #bodycameras, and will commission an outside revies of training practices, including the use of force. 1/

Holcomb:"We now stand at an inflection point, & we have an opportunity to acknowledge past wrongs, learn from our history & admit where we’ve come up short of
our ideals." He'll create a new chief equity, inclusion & opportunity officer to look at ways to get rid of barriers."2/

If reelected, Holcomb will ask the new Secretary of Education to prioritize recruiting minority teachers and closing educational attainment gaps. 3/

Holcomb, in statewide address, links "the virus of racism" to the #CoronavirusPandemic, noting the pandemic "has underscored stubborn racial disparities that are still with us,
fueled by decades of unequal opportunity and structural barriers." 4/

Holcomb will create a public "disparity data portal," posting racial breakdowns on state data from minority-owned businesses to the state prison population to enrollment in the state health insurance plan. 5/

Holcomb quotes @MartinU1977 president Sean Huddleston: "While Black lives matter, Black livelihoods matter, too. I agree, on both counts....We must remove barriers to success so all can benefit and achieve their dreams." 6/

Holcomb: new Cabinet-level equity officer "will help every state agency raise their game." 7/

Holcomb: "No task will go farther toward promoting equal economic opportunity throughout Indiana than a good education." He's asking DWD and Commission for Higher Ed to make recommendations to give minorities easier access to job training programs. 8/

Holcomb: outside review of #police training "can confirm good practices but also help us modernize how we train our officers." He says first priority is protection of both citizens and officers. 9/

Holcomb boasts minority representation among new state police graduates has doubled since 2016, but African-Americans are still just 6% of ISP force, compared to 10% of Indiana's population.

Holcomb on new disparity data portal: "We’ll put our cards on the table, face up. This type of public dashboard
transparency is critical if we’re all going to move forward together toward equity and greater opportunity." 11/

Holcomb: "When we see injustice, we must deal with it, whether it be against a people or a person...What I’ve laid out today are steps in a broad effort to make sure Indiana is a place where every Hoosier has an equal opportunity and access to achieve our founders’ vision.” 12/

Holcomb: "I ask all Hoosiers to join me in a spirit of openness, thoughtfulness and progress. That may mean questioning assumptions. It has for me. And it fueled a hunger to do more about it." 13/

Holcomb: "To those who feel impatient and that we’re not moving fast enough on this journey, I get it." But he invokes #JohnLewis in warning protesters to be nonviolent: "If you want change, don’t throw a brick; use a brick to lay a foundation for something better." 14/

Holcomb closes by honoring 3 police officers killed in line of duty in last year-plus who "left home every day in uniform, like so many others, not knowing if they’d ever return, serving in neighborhoods they only sought to keep
safe and secure... 15/

"Fortunately, few of us are called upon to make that kind of sacrifice. But we all have a role to play. For my part, I commit to you that I will work to be a “Barrier Buster” … and to bring greater equity and opportunity within your state government." 16/16