Watson says he likes a challenge; as Gary's top cop he's found plenty of them

Feb. 26, 2006 

By Lori Caldwell / Post-Tribune staff writer

GARY — The blazing bright light of public scrutiny shined on Garnett Watson from the day he swore to serve and protect the city as its police chief.

He was barely settled into his grungy office at the old police station when his new duties took him a dozen directions at once.

A cop and a killer on parole exchange fire in a shootout.

The Ku Klux Klan demanded to rally in the city.

Miss USA contestants and a media horde descended.

Not to mention the reaction from officers unhappy to be reporting to an outsider, departmental politics and crime - lots of crime.

The crime rate has decreased in Watson's tenure - homicides have certainly declined.

Still, Gary was the per capita homicide leader in the nation every year but one while Watson was chief.

This week marks Watson's last as chief. He's leaving to be global security manager for Eli Lilly and Co. in Indianapolis.

His deputy, Jeffery Kumorek, will take the chief's spot. "He's as prepared as anyone can be," Watson said in an interview at his office last week. "But you don't really know what the job is until you're sitting here."

Watson said the day-to-day operations often forced him to postpone instituting some of his long-term plans.

Getting the department's standard operating procedures updated and distributed, for example, was a project he started shortly after he started the job.

It was just completed last month.

Some of Watson's daily challenges stemmed from basic deficiencies he met the first day.

Manpower has been a constant problem, with officers retiring faster than new ones getting hired. The department was in the dark ages of technology; patrol was short of cars; and the station at 13th and Broadway was an Occupational Safety and Health Administration disaster.

In four years, the roster has grown and dipped, but the chief has always needed a huge overtime budget to fill patrol slots. The car situation has improved, but still there are days when supervisors struggle to get enough working vehicles on the street. In the area of technology, the department is current with many popular trends. Officers have mobile laptops. ShotSpotter gunfire detection alerts radio dispatchers within seconds of a shot. A Crime Scene Investigation team can collect fingerprints and fibers, photograph evidence and compare shell casings.

It was easy for the chief to get sidetracked.

"I'd tell myself, here's what I want to get done by this date, then something happens that requires all your attention," Watson said.

Like the day in January when then Cpl. Richard Allen tried to stop a car involved in a crash and found himself in a violent shootout with a man who'd been in prison for murder.

Or the discovery that five police officers had arranged an on-duty sex encounter with a teenage waitress. The "Flashlight Five" case dragged on for years as the officers resisted discipline, challenged the issue in court and, in one case, won reinstatement after being fired.

"I think they thought we'd give up. But I've never walked away from a fight in my life," Watson said.

Meting out discipline for a variety of offenses was a regular part of Watson's job. Officers who used to be unhappy that there was no discipline started to complain he was more aggressive than previous chiefs.

"I tried to be consistent so everybody knows what the limits are," Watson said. In his time as a Lake County officer, Watson said he knew the feeling of going to calls with someone with questionable behavior.

Honest mistakes, even "stupid" ones, can be corrected, Watson said. "I made some," he said, recalling a midnight turn long ago when he was so tired he crashed his squad car into a utility pole while driving through an empty parking lot.

Watson did not contain himself to the office, sometimes arriving at a scene with the first responding officers. He was with federal agents in July 2002 when they raided Dr. Jong Bek's drug clinic on Broadway.

Another time, he heard officers in a pursuit and managed to capture the assailant.

When the Sin City Desciples held their annual party in Midtown, Watson joined the massive police presence and stopped cars, assisted in arrests and seized weapons.

FBI Supervisory Special Agent Mark Becker worked with Watson through the Lake County High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force, where Watson served as director before becoming chief.

"We've witnessed the transformation of the department over the years as it became a very professional and well-run organization," Becker said.

He said Watson worked effectively with the Gang Response Investigative Team by providing Gary detectives to work with federal agents on regional crime issues.

"He's been a real partner to us in our mission," Becker said. "We hope to continue that."

Cmdr. James Walton said he didn't appreciate the chief's job until he was appointed to supervise one-third of the city.

"It's a lot different than I thought. I understand now there are reasons things happen a certain way," Walton said.
"The first thing the job showed me was what you don't know and what you need to," he said.

Watson said he'll miss the city, his lakefront home and being a public servant, but he's ready for a change.

"Every job I've taken, I've had to learn new skills and hone old skills. I like being challenged," he said.

Contact Lori Caldwell at 881-3119 or lcaldwell@post-trib.com