Indianapolis sees decline in violence
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“There can be no celebration.” Mayor Hogsett said that although violence has dropped, there’s still plenty of more work to do.
INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis city leaders shared an update on the gun violence reduction strategy that is part of an overall strategy developed last year.
“Ten months after our announcement, Indianapolis is experiencing a decline in violence at levels we have not seen in over a decade,” said Mayor Joe Hogsett.
So far, there’s been a 17% year-to-date decrease in murders and an 11% year-to-date decrease in non-fatal shootings.
Still, leaders say they have a lot of work to do.
“There can be no celebration. Every single life lost to violence results in untold trauma for a family, for a neighborhood, indeed, for a community,” said Hogsett.
Leaders say findings are based on several factors like cutting down on the primary drivers of gun violence, and weekly reviews of shooting incidents to determine which ones have a likelihood of retaliation.
“We want to acknowledge that we are trending in the right direction,” said David Muhammad, executive director for the National Institute of Criminal Justice Reform.
The NICJR helped implement the strategy and offer training.
Muhammad compared Indianapolis to a recent national study on violence.
“Around the country, there is, on average, a 3% decline in homicides in big cities, and so you have the city of Indianapolis far outpacing the national average and it is very clear that one of the significant contributing factors is this gun violence reduction strategy,” said Muhammad.
Part of the strategy involved a detailed assessment of gun violence looking at the primary drivers of gun violence.
“We established a weekly review of shootings to look back at the previous seven days and determine which of these shootings have a likelihood of retaliation,” said Muhammad.
There are also community safety meetings held every other month.
“Individuals who have been identified as very high risk are invited to a meeting to hear that (1) that they have the risk factors that put them at high risk at either being shot or being arrested for a shooting. (2) There is support for them to make better decisions,” said Muhammad.
Hogsett said this strategy is thanks to funding from the American Rescue Plan.
“Indianapolis can rest assured that these types of efforts, these types of collaborations will continue for the next two and a half years. Where you go after that, I do believe it is sustainable,” said Hogsett.
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