INDIANAPOLIS — We're learning more about the search for solutions to violence in Indianapolis. A study from the Regenstreif Institute and the Indiana University School of Medicine lays out some ideas.
One of the researchers who worked on the study told WRTV’s Amber Grigley there are so many moving parts when it comes to reducing the impact of violence in the community.
"The big one is connections and communications. It doesn't require a new innovation. Our community found there's a lot of resources just from this kind of conversation; there's been a lot of resources in the community, and there's a lot of need in the community," study senior author Malaz Boustani, M.D., MPH., said.
Some of the other solutions include:
- Limiting gun access.
- Changing policies to decrease school expulsions of children who become involved in the criminal justice system.
- Limiting promotion of risk factors such as alcohol use.
- Altering policies related to affordable housing.
- Increasing employment, vocational skills and trade programs.
So, what's next?
Boustani said Eskenazi Health has already been championing most of those solutions through HOPE, a hospital-based violence reduction program. He said this process is a marathon, not a sprint and right now it is important to properly plan this roll out and educate along the way.
"Our job is to continue to have time and space with them and the community. And develop together a website that already exists in the Office of Public Safety. We can just distribute it more, share it more, maybe expand it more," Bustani said.
The City of Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety helped fund this research. It says in the three years since Mayor Hogsett’s Gun Violence Reduction Strategy was first implemented, both fatal and nonfatal shootings are down by nearly 30%.
"Many of the city’s efforts overlap with recommendations from the study. Most notable of these efforts is Indy Peace, a partnership between OPHS and the Indy Public Safety Foundation, which connects community members at the highest risk of gun violence with career and job readiness over the course of a 12 to 18-month fellowship program," Indy OPHS said.
Boustani said that since Indianapolis already has some of their recommended solutions in place, seeing a decline in violence rates is a positive reinforcement that this method can be successful in various communities.
