INDIANAPOLIS -- Ten Point Coalition leaders challenged the city Thursday to come together to do something about the record-setting violence over the past two years.
The anti-crime group held a press conference Thursday with a three-pronged request for Indianapolis leaders and residents:
- For city leaders to boost the amount of city-funded crime prevention grants
- For more resources to help IMPD clear unsolved homicides
- To boost the number and scale of community groups willing to partner with IMPD
One impetus behind the conference: Ten Point says it can't expand its efforts to the troubled east side without more resources.
Ten Point leaders had plenty to say about how the city spends its public safety dollars -- and who gets them. Read an in-depth breakdown of that here.
Near the 10th Street and Sherman Avenue area – which saw six criminal homicides within a few blocks in 2016 – residents were warm to the idea but too afraid to go on camera to talk about it.
"I kind of look up and down the street to see who's walking towards me," said Brian Johnson, who has lived in the area for 25 years. "You never know when somebody's going to try to rob you or something might happen."
Ten Point said its purpose Thursday wasn't to point fingers, but to "be about the business of saving lives." It says its model has shown dividends in the United Northwest, Crown Hill and Butler-Tarkington areas where it patrols.
In 2015, there were 24 criminal homicides in Ten Point's patrol areas. Last year, that number was down to just four.
"The drug trafficking hasn't stopped, we still have gangs in these neighborhoods, but we have been able to build a relationship with them that they are now helping us keep the peace," said Rev. Charles Harrison, president of the Ten Point Coalition.
Ten Point pays its volunteers, many of whom are themselves former gang members, up to $10 an hour to walk their patrol areas in an effort to deter criminal activity.
Whatever the cost, Johnson said he'd like to see his east side community come together the same way to prevent crime.
"It's very important for the community to take responsibility and to help the police," he said. "The police can only go so far. Everyone who lives in an area could get a lot more accomplished if we all worked together."
A spokesman for the office of Mayor Joe Hogsett said city-funded crime prevention dollars will see their first increase in six years in 2017, rising to $2.25 million from $2 million. Meanwhile, Harrison said he plans to reach out to the mayor's office to try to schedule a meeting.
