Director of Public Safety Frank Straub resigns

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) - Director of Public Safety Frank Straub has resigned, after multiple calls from current and former police officers that he do so.

Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard said Friday he had accepted Straub's resignation after receiving a letter from him. Straub will continue to serve in the position while a successor is found, with plans to leave by Aug. 1.

"You get to the point," Straub told 24-Hour News 8 reporter Julian Grace, " where you wake up and say, 'It's time to go and do something different.' I'm very proud of what we have been able to accomplish."

ONLINE EXTRA | Read Straub's resignation letter.

Ballard and Straub didn't explain why Straub was resigning, leaving it unclear if it was the public safety director's idea. Statements from both leaders remained focused on Straub's accomplishments, rather than any sort of misstep.

"During Frank’s tenure criminal homicides are at their lowest levels in 15 years, the city’s integrated public safety model is receiving national and international recognition, IMPD and IFD training is being modernized and steps are being actively taken to improve the diversity of hiring and promotions in our public safety departments," Ballard said in a news release. "Frank Straub’s work set the stage for the Department of Public Safety and all of its divisions to proudly serve this city in a positive fashion for years to come.”

The mayor did say Straub's work "hasn't always been easy" but added "meaningful reform seldom is."

In his resignation letter , Straub wrote for more than two pages about the accomplishments in Indianapolis public safety during his term.

When asked if the continued criticism from the Fraternal Order of Police, the union that represents officers, played into his decision, he said no.

Ballard asked Straub to be a part of the search for his successor, he told 24-Hour News 8.

“He has asked me to stay as well, and stay active in picking our successor as well as our police chief. We both enjoyed a good relationship back and forth,” Straub said.

Straub said his successor must have the ability to see the big picture.

“We need someone who has a broad perspective on what public safety is," he said. "Someone who is purely police or fire or EMS ... , I’m not sure that is the best candidate.”

Straub’s resignation comes after Indianapolis Police Chief Paul Ciesielski stepped down earlier this month over the mishandling of the Officer David Bisard fatal motorcycle crash case.

FULL COVERAGE | More on the David Bisard case.

Straub began as public safety director in December 2009, after working in White Plains, N.Y. for seven years.

His term as public safety director has been met with plenty of critics. In August 2010, after the crash in which Bisard struck and killed a motorcyclist while on duty, a City-County Council member and mayoral candidate called for him to step down.

After Ciesielski stepped down to the rank of captain, former leaders of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department publicly called for Straub to resign .

When asked whether he'd change anything from his tenure in Indianapolis, though, he said no.

"No. I think we have done a good job, and I'm proud with our accomplishments,” he said.