INDIANAPOLIS — Two weeks after a major drug bust in Haughville, this west side neighborhood feels like they're getting their home back.
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department's Chief Bryan Roach and Deputy mayor David Hampton returned to check on the area on Wednesday.
More than two dozen people were charged in Operation Garage Band. Authorities seized over 40 firearms along with methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin.
READ |Major drug sweep in Indy nets federal charges for 24 people |
Chief Roach and Deputy Mayor Hampton walked the neighborhood with residents who are fed up with the dealers.
"Hopefully the message is we are not gonna tolerate the violence around the activity that you are participating in," Chief Roach said. "But we know removing them, there are people who rely on that product. We wanted to comeback into the neighborhood and create a neighborhood that doesn't foster that kind of activity."
Senior citizens have noticed that dealers are not as blatantly on the streets anymore.
"It was real bad," Margaret Berry, an area resident, said. "But now you don't see as much. You see the police more and I think that's helping a lot."
"We're building this up. We're gonna stand out as long as we can," Bettye Keller, another area resident, said. "Because we want our children to be better."
Neighborhood folks are walking with the police today but after the bust, police and the city made contact with the families of those who are incarcerated. They are putting together services to assist the families who no longer have an income.
"The fact that the mayor's office and IMPD think that it is Important enough to come to the community after a large drug bust is definitely a step in the right direction," LaToya Pitts, Christamore House Executive Director, said.
The steps taken around the community are a show of solidarity and commitment.
The resource fair is Friday from 10 a.m. until 12 p.m. at Christamore House. The first 40 people will receive $25 gift cards from Aldi's Supermarket.
