Ten Point Coalition to expand into east side
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Business owners near 42nd and Post say they’re rooting for the Ten Point Coalition’s success after the crime fighting group announced plans Tuesday to expand to the east side neighborhood. The expansion is funded by a $50,000 grant from the Indiana Attorney General’s office.
For decades, the group has walked through the city’s crime-ridden streets in their signature neon vests, connecting with young people and trying to steer them away from a life of crime.
Ten Point leaders say they will use the $50,000 to pay about eight people $8 to $10 an hour to “patrol” the streets over the next year.
Fodia Gassama owns the Harlem Fashion shop at 38th Street and Post Road.
“It’s very hard for us and for business owners to get business because people are afraid to come around this area,” Gassama said.
Gassama said he opened his shop two years ago. Since then, he said his alarm has gone off three times in the middle of the night from people trying to break in. One burglar ran off with shoes and clothes.
He lives at 42nd Street and Post Road, where a shooting last month left a 16-year-old in critical condition. A few blocks away, last summer, police said someone murdered a 19-year-old.
Rev. Charles Harrison of the Ten Point Coalition said the group will patrol the streets, starting next month, on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. The group often mentors young people and connects them with job opportunities.
Some of the Ten Point members patroling the east side will be reformed criminals.
“OGs. Original gangsters. Individuals that, at one point in time, were a part of the problem in the neighborhood,” Harrison said. “They have the kind of street credibility that is needed to reach the population that we’re trying to reach.”
Harrion said Ten Point helped reduce the murder rate in the neighborhoods it patrols, including Butler-Tarkington and Crown Hill.
Gassama doesn’t know if the plan will prevent crime. If it doesn’t, he says he might have to move.
“Most of the people doing crime around there, they don’t have family members to talk to them,” Gassama said. “That’s one of the big factors.”
Indiana Attorney General Curtis Hill said his office set aside about $500,000 dollars for groups using the Ten Point model.
Harrison said you can expect to see Ten Point-style groups popping up across the state. He’s also looking into Indianapolis expansions at 10th and Rural and 16th and Tibbs.