INDIANAPOLIS — The Haughville neighborhood is a close community fractured by crime and violence. Neighbors hoped to reverse the trend with some help from Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers.
IMPD officers and Haughville residents united for a neighborhood walk Wednesday night to help neighbors open up about the problems they're seeing from their window.
"It takes everybody working together to change this culture," said Ronald Covington, a pastor and president of the Haughville Strong Community Organization. "We have a culture of violence that has to be changed."
Longtime resident Olgen Williams welcomed IMPD's presence because he believes the neighborhood is often overshadowed by other parts of the city.
"We always get ignored on the west side of the river," Williams said. "I've told the mayor, I've told City-County Council. We get ignored."
Covington hopes the fresh eyes on Haughville inspires the children and teens growing up in the neighborhood.
"These young people who are out here feeling like there's nothing," Covington said. "I think it's our responsibility to show them that there is something."
This is not the first time IMPD has walked with Haughville neighbors. Covington hopes to continue the tradition going if it means his community starts to open up about their problems.
"It's letting all of our neighbors know that you're not alone in this. We're in this together, and if we are to have the kind of community we want to have, we have to work together."
