Violence hits Indianapolis

With the death toll continuing to rise, our city is facing a huge problem

Breanna Cooper, Staff writer|February 28, 2014

Everyone has the right to feel safe in their community.

Citizens of Indianapolis, however, are losing this right as homicides in the metropolitan area continue to rise. Last year, 140 people were murdered in Indianapolis, exceeding Chicago’s homicide rate for 2013.

This year, as of today, 31 people have been killed in Indianapolis. February 20 marked the deadliest day this year, with six people being killed.

Obviously, Indianapolis has some major changes to make if we want to make our city safer for our citizens. Some proposed plans include placing more police officers in high-risk areas and “random probation sweeps,” according to IMPD chief Rick Hite.

The first of those probation sweeps occurred earlier this week along west 38th street and netted multiple arrests

While these are steps in the right direction, our city officials also need to recognize the threat that firearms play in the violence that has plagued our city for the last couple of years. Out of the 29 homicides in 2014 that have had a conclusive autopsy, 27 of those victims were killed with a firearm. While extensive gun control may not work or even be necessary, our city needs to reflect on how easy it is for people to obtain these weapons, and how we can prevent guns getting into the hands of people that shouldn’t be carrying weapons.

Another issue that needs to be addressed is the role of juveniles in Indianapolis crime. According to WTHR, Indianapolis citizens have seen our crime rate in the summer increase every year for 30 years, mostly due to juveniles having more time to spend outside in their neighborhoods. Educating our youth on how to stay out of trouble and away from bad situations, could help our overall crime rate, and potentially help us decrease our homicide rate in the future.

We will not see a dramatic drop in crime rates over night, nor will drastic changes be made in the very near future. However, if our city takes action as a collective group to curb violence in our community, we could begin to make Indianapolis a safer environment for us and for future generations.