Over the past few months, safety along the Canal Walk in downtown Indianapolis has become a concern.
Around 12:30 Tuesday morning, a man was shot in the leg near the Colts play area along the canal.
According to the Indianapolis Metro Police Department, the shooting occurred after an altercation between two groups. The man is expected to recover from his injuries.
Back in July, a 24-year-old woman was shot and killed on the west side of the Canal Walk just south of the St. Clair bridge.
Less than a week before that fatal shooting, a 14-year-old boy was shot and killed. Police say he was shot after he allegedly attempted to rob a person in the area.
The violence is leading to action by the city of Indianapolis and IMPD.
Right now, you’ll notice a temporary IMPD camera set up near the Colts play space, as well as a few cameras controlled by the parks department. However, that is currently the only video surveillance along the three-mile loop.
The city is working on getting a set of cameras installed underneath the Indiana Avenue bridge as well as a set of permanent cameras near the Colts play space.
"The canal does not have WIFI and so we need to have WIFI connectivity to stream some of those camera services to IMPD so we're currently laying the groundwork for that and working internally on the technicalities of that,” said Caillin Ellis who manages the Canal Walk for the city of Indianapolis.
Until those cameras are up you’ll notice more police presence during the day and night. The city and IMPD are working together to ensure there are two officers on the canal between the hours of 10 p.m. and 5 a.m. every night through the end of September.
The goal is to have the new security cameras up and running by spring.
