INDIANAPOLIS (WISH-TV) — Halfway through 2024, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department statistics show a significant decrease in the amount of violent crime compared to this time last year.

One of the most significant decreases is in the number of murders. IMPD told I-Team 8 that it has seen a nearly 17% decrease.

“While 17% is a good number, it shows that we still have a lot of work to be done,” said IMPD Sgt. Anthony Richardson.

IMPD attributes the significant decrease in crime to people in the community.

“The community engagement has been tremendous over the past few months,” said Richardson. “We’ve noticed an uptick in folks reaching out and saying, ‘Hey, we’re sick of this stuff in our neighborhoods. We’re sick of seeing this. We want to do something about it.’”

A nearly 17% decrease in murders isn’t the only decrease Indianapolis is seeing. Non-fatal shooting victims are down 13%. Robberies are down 17% and aggravated assaults are down 33% compared to this time last year.

Those numbers are encouraging, but IMPD still isn’t satisfied.

“It’s one too many,” said Richardson. “One victim too many. Working together with our community, we can see more. We can see a larger drop in these numbers. I don’t think you can ever take a victory lap when we still have folks being hurt, folks being killed. We are encouraged by those numbers, but we have a lot of work to do,”

Going forward, IMPD is going to continue to focus on what’s working.

“Focused approach on targeting the individuals that have the guns,” said Richardson. “Targeting the individuals that are actually out here firing shots. Specific locations. Specific areas that we know that we have the uptick in crime, so we can get in front of it, so we can hopefully do something about it.”

To continue to see a decrease in crime, IMPD said it will continue to need significant engagement from the community.