INDIANAPOLIS — Indianapolis has reached its 200th homicide this year. It happened on Oct. 1, just this past weekend.
To compare to last year, in 2020, the city reached 200 on Oct. 27. This means we are on pace yet again to see a record number of homicides in the Circle City.
On Monday, the Indianapolis Mayor's Office is hoping new money, though, for anti-crime efforts will help put a stop to the violence. The mayor’s Office of Public Health and Safety announced new spending for its violence reduction partnership.
This year, the American Rescue Plan is giving the program an additional $140,000 to go specifically to organizations addressing mental health challenges from the pandemic that contributed to the increase in violence.
This year’s five violence reduction grant recipients are:
- The Boys and Girls Club of Indianapolis PIVOT program
- Brookside CDC
- VOICES Corporation
- Reach for Youth
- RecycleForce
“We are fighting as hard as we can to turn these numbers around," Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett said. "I’d like to be able to say they’ll be turned around in 90 days but I think it’s going to take over the course of a three-year commitment to make sure that we get it right.”
“Looking at how do we get young people to continue to dream? How do we continue to affirm them and build relationships and then also how do we get them to invest in each other?” asked Brandon Randall, VOICES Corp. director of engagement.
Hogsett said this will be a historic amount of money invested in anti-violence programs for the city. It’s all part of his $400 million fiscal package that the City-County Council will begin committee hearings starting Monday.
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