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Ten Point Coalition meets with Louisville group for third time

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – The success of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition is catching the attention of community leaders across state lines.

On Thursday a group of community leaders from Louisville drove to Indianapolis to meet with the coalition and watch them in action.

This was the third meeting between the two groups. Louisville leaders say they’re looking for direction and advice when it comes to curbing violence.

“The success that they’ve experienced, I mean when you’ve gone a year, over 365 days without a homicide in an area that has experienced it, it is saying that you can reduce violence. If it can be done here it can be done in Louisville,” said Pastor Vincent James from Louisville.

So he and several others crossed state lines to watch the group in action.

James said Louisville is experiencing an increase in violence as more kids and young adults join gangs.

He’s hoping the ten point method will curb those issues in his city.

“It brought hope for me to be able to say, hey I’ve been struggling in a community for 15 years and seeing violence and seeing it increasing, so I hope that it can be decreased,” said James.

“If we can build partnerships with other cities across the country that are having the similar problem with the urban gun violence then I think we ought to share strategies and information with one another,” said Reverend Charles Harrison.

He’s hoping to continue to share those strategies through meetings like this.

“It makes you feel proud that people are looking at Indianapolis,” said Harrison.

He’s hoping the success here serves as an inspiration for other cities. He said the Butler-Tarkington neighborhood has gone 398 days without a homicide as of Thursday.

This meeting was not the end of the work between these two groups.

Members of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition will now go back down to Kentucky to provide guidance and help those leaders as they start to work neighborhoods there.