Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition to expand, include east side neighborhoods
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Members of the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition are working to expand their crime and violence-reduction model to an east side neighborhood in Indianapolis.
On Thursday representatives with the Ten Point Coalition, the Far East Side Community and the state attorney general’s office walked the streets near East 42nd Street and Post Road. They say crime and violence are problems in the area, particularly in the apartment complexes.
“It is a lot different at night around here than it is right now,” said the Rev. James Jackson with the Far East Side Community. “Homicides are too high…. We want to save lives. We want to prevent people from getting killed.”
Jackson said he has families coming to him almost every week saying their loved ones have become victims of violence on the streets.
“There is a sense of hopelessness. There is a sense of it is not going to change,” Jackson said.
It didn’t take long Thursday night for 24-Hour News 8 to find someone whose family has been impacted by violence as well. Mia Mimms lives on the east side, and she said she has heard about the work the Ten Point Coalition does and the success they’ve had in other neighborhoods. She’s excited to see what success they’ll have close to her home.
“I think its a good idea because any little thing will help,” Mimms said.
The Rev. Charles Harrison, who leads the coalition, said funding to expand it will come from the Indiana Attorney General’s Office. Now, they’re working to find the right people to join their team.
“There are a lot of O.G.’s (original gangsters) in this neighborhood that can help us on the ground in reaching the individuals that are most likely to be the victims and perpetrators of violent crime. The goal is to redirect their lives and put them on the path to success,” Harrison said.
“We have to do something different, so I’m praying and hoping that it will work out,” Mimms said.
“This could possibly be the differentiating factor between someone getting killed and someone being able to go home at night,” Jackson said.
Harrison said he would eventually like to have Ten Point Coalition groups working in six of the city’s most violent neighborhoods.
He said he is going to Washington, D.C., next week to meet with the federal attorney general’s office to talk about future funding.
