INDIANAPOLIS — An Indianapolis organization that works to stop the threat of violence before it starts is celebrating more than 25 years in the Circle City.
It’s called the Indianapolis Ten-Point Coalition.
Rev. Charles Harrison said he and a group of faith-based leaders and neighborhood groups started it in the late 1990s.
“If we are having to put handcuffs on a young person after they shot someone or killed somebody, it's too late,” IMPD Chief of Police Chris Bailey told WRTV.
The organization's goal is to address urban youth violence, particularly among young men of color aged 12 to 24.
“The only way we are successful in reducing crime in our city is by working with our community and in partnership with our community,” Chief Bailey said.
Over the course of more than two decades, the organization has relied on collaboration to patrol 12 different hotspot areas.
That collaboration has included IMPD and local neighborhood groups to tackle the critical issue of youth violence.
“In 2025, our rapid response teams will go anywhere in the city, so they will not just be concentrated in our 12 patrol areas, but they will assist other neighborhoods in areas that we are having a lot of trouble,” Rev. Harrison said.
It’s a method that Harrison said worked in the early stages of the Indianapolis Ten-Point Coalition, and now they are bringing it back in hopes of making even more of a change in the community.
“Trying to calm things down and getting people to talk and hopefully bring the perpetrator to justice,” Rev. Harrison said.
Rev. Harrison says he hopes the new patrols will start once the weather warms up.
