Citizens start petition calling for South Bend Police Chief's resignation

SOUTH BEND, Ind. -- Several citizens have started a petition calling for the resignation of South Bend Police Chief Scott Ruszkowski.

The petition comes after an officer shot and killed theft suspect Eric Logan in June. The officer has since resigned from the department.

Residents are calling for the police chief to step down as well, citing continued officer misconduct as a reason.

We went to downtown South Bend to see what residents think about the petition.

“I don’t feel like the police chief should resign. Just correct what’s being messy, you know with the police force," Neva Briggs said.

“I think that it is bogus and because he’s a cop he’s getting away with more than he should," Mishana Conlee said. “He should absolutely be fired and treated like any other individual punished by the law.”

Some think his resignation is not the best first step.

“There are other issues from what I’ve read on the petition that should be addressed first," Todd Ostertag said.

Others agreed with the petition but expressed how changing the police chief might not do a thing.

“It just seems like we get rid of the old boss and we get a new boss in there and it’s the same. We go through the same things over and over again expecting a different result and getting the same result," Bill Dugger said.

They all agreed on one point. They all said they've seen an increase in crime in the city.

“Yes, I’ve actually seen an increase in crimes," Conlee said.

“I definitely, definitely know that there is a rise in crime," Briggs said.

On Friday afternoon, the petition had 33 signatures.

We reached out to the South Bend Police Department about the petition. They declined to comment.