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Fishers police patroling stores, parking lots to tackle 96th Street crime

(WISH Photo, File)

FISHERS, Ind (WISH) – As part of a new effort to fight crime, Fishers police are visiting shops, patrolling parking lots and writing notes.

Fishers officers have their walking shoes on, and 24-Hour News 8 joined them Friday to find out why.

“There’s a lot more going on when you get out of that police car than when you’re just driving,” Fishers Police Department Captain Edward Gebhart said.

It’s part of the department’s 96th Street initiative. All officers, including the assistant chief, are doing this.

But it’s not just police. It’s a group effort with code enforcement, as well as store employees. “We want to get ahead of the curve,” Gebhart said.

The initiative is also to work with shoppers. Officers are walking the parking lot looking for things left in plain view or unlocked doors. If they find a problem, they leave a note behind to alert the driver.

On Thursday, the group got its first update. After a month, officers are surprised.

There were 19 arrests from mid-March to mid-April. That’s about the same amount as the past three years.

With more attention to 96th Street, officers thought the number would’ve been higher, which means, they said, the plan is working.

“We believe that we’re already seeing an early success pattern,” Gebhart said.

It’s a success store owners want. A year ago, they formed a business watch group that, coupled with this new initiative, has them feeling better.

“It’s nice to know that they want to get involved,” Sahm’s Bar and Grill manager Molly Hartman said. “They’ve come in a few times and introduced themselves and just checked on us to make sure everything is good. I mean that’s nice.”

Getting the numbers down is the goal, but Gebhart said walking around and making connections is just as important to fighting 96th Street crime.

“We don’t want it to become something that we’re not going to be proud of, or the city doesn’t want to endorse. So we want to get down there and prevent now and play defense now,” Gebhart added.

Although the numbers look promising, officers say they won’t get a true gauge on how well this is going until next month.