INDIANAPOLIS -- As homicide numbers rise in Indianapolis so do the number of unsolved cases, and detectives need your help to bring both of those numbers down.
For the second year in a row, Indianapolis broke its record for criminal homicides, and if that isn’t bad enough, more than half of those remain unsolved as we start off the new year. Only 48.5 percent of homicides in 2016 were solved by December 31. That's over 80 cases, and families without closure.
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Detectives say their biggest struggle is convincing people to come forward with information.
“It’s certainly not the lack of zeal on our investigators' part, those men and women go at it hard. And they want to solve those cases more than anybody,” said Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Assistant Chief Randal Taylor. “But if people aren’t going to cooperate, they’re not going to tell us what we need to know, it just makes it that much more difficult.”
Whether its fear or lack of motivation, police say their goal is to get these criminals off the streets, and they can’t accomplish that goal without your help.
“It’s something that we’ve gotta find a way to make that change, whether it’s putting people at ease or offering them something that we haven’t offered them yet,” said Taylor.
The department is working with groups like Ten Point Coalition to try to convince people to come forward and help them solve these crimes, and help bring closure to the families affected by them.
“It saves a lot of time and anguish on the family’s part if we get people to stand up and cooperate,”said Taylor.
Another issue police say they often see is people who think that the information they have isn’t valuable. Whether you witnessed a crime, heard gunshots nearby or just saw something weird, police say the littlest bit of information can help them push a case forward.
“Look deep within, understand what is really good and what is right. The right thing to do. Then act upon that and give us a call, and let us take care of these problems,” said Taylor.
