Mayor outlines summer crime prevention plan

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — Mayor Joe Hogsett outlined a plan Tuesday to reduce crime and violence over the summer. 

He said of his goals is to steer young people away from crime with a new initiative called a “juvenile re-entry program.”

“We’ll target our young people who may need just one final push away from a firearm and toward an education or career training,” Hogsett said. 

The program will target people 17 and older who have a history with guns and are under juvenile probation. The city is partnering with a behavioral health center and a Christian center to connect the young people with counselors, job training and financial coaching. 

Participants in the program can earn paychecks as they reach benchmarks and goals set with their coach. They can earn up to $450 each. The program is funded by a grant the city earned from a nationwide initiative called Project Safe Neighborhoods. 

“A bright future is just on the horizon for the city of Indianapolis,” Hogsett said. 

Police said they’ll also look at crime trends in each neighborhood and respond to the area’s specific needs. 

Eric Nichols, who lives near 31st Street and Forest Manor, said his neighborhood needs more police. 

“It’s drug infested. Prostitute infested,” Nichols said. “They need to go through the neighborhood more often than they do.”

IMPD said you will see officers walking and biking through neighborhoods that are seeing the most crime. The department wants to increase visibility and trust.

Police are also fixing city cameras in rough neighborhoods and adding officers to the homicide and aggravated assault units. 

The mayor said the last six months of the year tend to be the most violent. 

“We’re preparing for that and we’re doing it in ways that, candidly, we’ve never done before,” Hogsett said.