INDIANAPOLIS — The Indy Peace Fellowship is an initiative from the city, providing solutions to reduce gun violence in our city.
WRTV spoke with Dane Nutty, President & CEO of the Indy Public Safety Foundation, about its efforts in 2025 and continued targets ahead for 2026.
"A lot of times, you have an idea of what the community wants, you have an idea of what people need, and so, we certainly have a significant engagement with the community daily," Nutty said.
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Finding solutions to gun violence has been one of the city's biggest hurdles.
"This year that we're looking at annual data, we're over 20% reduction in criminal homicides and nearly 30% reduction in non-fatal shootings, but again, I think it's a testament to the investments that have been made over the last three to five years and really lifting not only targeted intervention but also community voices in violence intervention," Nutty said.
Nutty said that the relationships built with the community, IMPD and organizations throughout the years helped foster greater results in 2025.
"I think after the first couple of years, you know, when you launch a really huge new strategy, it takes a little time to kind of cement those partnerships and ensure that we're being most effective and intentional with our work, and we've really seen that come into play this year," Nutty said.
Looking ahead to 2026, Nutty said his team will continue to review data daily to help cultivate the best outcome.
"We might have an incident in the community that results in either the potential for retaliation or, you know, some additional trauma that that neighborhood or that community has incurred," Nutty said.
Every year, Indy Peace Fellowship's goal is to reduce homicides by 10%.
"As of today, we're down over 20% in criminal homicides year to date, so we're certainly, again. We're happy that we met that goal. That doesn't mean that the work has completed, right? That we can just say, 'Hey, we've done it all, we've fixed the problem.' There's a lot of work to move forward," Nutty said.
Nutty added that they are seeing nearly a 30% reduction year-over-year in non-fatal shootings. Further proving that community outreach and targeted impact are working.
