Community crime fighters honored though funding cuts expected

INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis metro police and Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett have long preached that the key to fighting crime in Indianapolis’ neighborhoods is for residents to step up with solutions and programs to protect themselves.

Six such community crime fighters were honored with a luncheon at the International Community Center in advance of National Night Out Against Crime events across the city tonight.

Sylva Zhang of the Ransom Place Neighborhood was honored as the Downtown Crime Fighter of the Year.

”I think that relationship is what makes people willing to give up their Monday night to meet together on a Zoom call and kind of figure out like, ‘How are we going to deal with this gun violence issue? Let’s see who we can bring in here and what can we do to prevent these kinds of things from happening,’” she said. ”I think it’s the times when there’s not neighbors out there watching out for each other and connecting that things are less safe.”

Mayor Hogsett agreed that community support is the backbone of recognizing and defeating crime while assisting IMPD as it patrols neighborhoods.

”Over the course of 2022 through 2025, we invested $45 million in community-based neighborhood-oriented anti-crime anti-violence groups and I think in many cases that has paid enormous dividends in helping us lower the incidents of crime,” he said. ”They all are united in their efforts to intercede before crime happens so to prevent crime and then once it happens, they are very cooperative with law enforcement in trying to hold people accountable.”

The city was able to flood the zone with money provided by Biden-era ARPA funds: American Rescue Plan Act cash that was used to jump-start neighborhood-based programs.

Hogsett said that money, as reflected in next week’s 2026 city budget announcement, is going away.

”Public safety will not see any cuts. Now other areas of city government have been asked to reduce their overall budget amounts,” said the mayor. ”We’re not going to be able to fund Elevation grants to the degree that we did when we had ARPA money but we are still going to be very very involved with Elevation grant programming and Elevation grant supported neighborhood organizations.”

Hogsett told attendees that overall crime in Indianapolis is down 17% compared to last year, while criminal homicides are down 23% and non-fatal shootings are down 19%.

“Report that. Celebrate that. Tell the statehouse that,” he said in response to an idea floated by a republican state senator that perhaps the State should take over the public safety and operations of downtown Indianapolis.

Below is a list of locations where neighbors, police and city leaders will walk in support of communities during National Night Out events.

·       4 – 8 p.m. @ 425 S High School Road (Gurdwara Gur Nanak Darbar)

·       5 –7 p.m. @ 3400 N Boulevard Place (Crown Hill & Butler Tarkington)

·       5:30 – 8 p.m. @ 8220 Lake Point Court (Castle Cove Neighborhood)

·       6 – 9 PM @ 3130 E 30^th Street – Washington Park (Oxford Neighborhood)

·       6 – 7:30 p.m. @ 2560 Villa Avenue (Bean Creek Neighborhood Association)

·       6 – 8 p.m. @ 4802 Madison Avenue (Positive Impact Neighborhood)

·       6 – 8 p.m. @ 901 Shelby Street (Southeast Community Services)

·       6 – 8 p.m. @ 5522 Blairwood Drive (Coventry Park Crime Watch)