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Hogsett, Roach walk east side neighborhood

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Mayor Joe Hogsett and IMPD Bryan Roach walked the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood Wednesday to engage with residents and business owners

“You can change the perception of things by working together and get better engagement,” said Amy Harwell, the president of the Martindale Brightwood Neighborhood Association.

It was Hogsett and Roach’s third walk together.

It comes as residents call for peace.

“The east side, the west side, the south side, the north side. The crime needs to stop,” said Tonya Jenkins as she played with her nephew nearby. “Y’all killing. Killing is not going to solve nothing. It’s going to put y’all in a grave and you don’t want to be there. Young folks, stop.”

Jenkins was two blocks from where Hogsett and Roach were talking with residents about how to move this neighborhood forward.

“Until you get out of your car and walk the streets and talk to the neighbors and talk to the business owners you don’t really get that up close personal feel for it,” said Hogsett.

So they talked and walked, calling the area at 25th Street and Keystone Avenue the gateway to economic activity on the east side.

“Our mindset has been to sit back and be reactive, wait for something to happen and respond where this is getting out in front of it and being more proactive,” said Roach.

They spent more than an hour talking to business owners and residents.

Harwell says these visits are more than surface level.

“If you put the engagement and the time out to work with them one on one they will remember who you are they will give a handout, is there something I can do for you?” she said.

She says she regularly meets with police and residents. She tells them these types of interactions work.

“This is the only way you’re going to get a better feedback from officers rather than sitting back on sidelines and criticizing,” she said.

They’ve also done these walks in Haughville and at 10th and Rural. They say more will be planned in the future

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