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How IMPD classifies homicides, murders

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department categorizes homicides in two ways.

Indianapolis through 10 p.m. Monday had recorded 171 homicides this year, 148 of those described as murders. The city was inching closer to the total murders in 2016, a year Indianapolis recorded as its deadliest year on record with 150 murders.

The homicides are defined as murders when IMPD does not consider them excusable or justifiable. Murders are defined in different degrees and usually attached to criminal intent.

The Rev. Charles Harrison with the Ten Point Coalition believes that IMPD should get rid of their current categories and instead report one number each year: the total number of homicides in the city.

“I think you have got to look at the larger number. We’ve had 171 people who have died at the hands of another human being, and that should be concerning to all of us,” Harrison said.

Cities like Chicago and Memphis give the total number of people killed each year.

It is unclear whether Indianapolis will change the way it classifies those deaths.

However, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced on Monday a plan to disrupt the current violent trend. Hogsett said he intended to use the help of federal partners to get illegal guns off the streets and to  identify groups in the city to help engage people in neighborhoods that present a challenge.

His plan also includes a push to get the city to add $300,000 to support groups addressing criminal activity on the streets.

Late Monday night, IMPD was responding to a new report of a person shot.

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