INDIANAPOLIS -- After five homicides this week alone, city leaders are making a renewed push to reduce crime in the city's most violent neighborhoods.
The east and northeast sides have seen a rash of homicides this year in neighborhoods with little to no outreach. The Ten Point Coalition hopes to change that soon.
The group touts its success in neighborhoods like Crown Hill and Butler-Tarkington. It says its constant presence on the streets in the former neighborhood has helped prevent a homicide in the past 289 days.
Elsewhere around the city, 2016's homicide total is up to 81.
READ MORE | See Indy's homicide problem in three maps | MAP: 2016 Indianapolis Homicides
With many requests for help on the east side, Ten Point leader Rev. Charles Harrison says the group is helping establish outreach groups that will hit those east side neighborhoods soon.
"The key is neighborhoods have to police their own neighborhoods, in partnership with police," Harrison said. "You've got to get people on the ground. We need boots on the ground that are working in those neighborhoods every day, talking to those individuals who are most likely to be the victims and perpetrators of the violent crime."
Harrison says Ten Point will help train the additional groups. He hopes they will take to the streets on the east and northeast sides within the next two weeks. He also points out that with so many requests, they need a lot of people to walk the neighborhoods. If you'd like to help, you can reach the Ten Point Coalition at 923-9791.
