In the project safe neighborhoods (PSN) target enforcement area of marion county, indiana (the home of indianapolis, the largest city in indiana), homicides and nonfatal shootings have largely…

This $206,214 Formula Grant award from the U.S. Department of Justice's Bureau of Justice Assistance (CFDA 16.609 - Project Safe Neighborhoods) will support a comprehensive, multi-partner approach to reducing violent crime in the Project Safe Neighborhoods target area of Marion County, Indiana (home to Indianapolis). The funding will be used by the Indiana Criminal Justice Institute, a division of the State of Indiana, to strengthen collaborative efforts among federal, state, and local law enforcement, prosecutors, and community stakeholders. Key activities will include targeted law enforcement operations, crime prevention initiatives, community engagement programs, and data-driven analysis to identify and mitigate violent crime drivers such as gang activity and firearms offenses. This grant aims to expedite data sharing and coordinate overlapping jurisdictions to achieve the shared goal of decreasing homicides, non-fatal shootings, robberies, and other violent crimes that have trended upward in the region since 2015.

In the project safe neighborhoods (PSN) target enforcement area of marion county, indiana (the home of indianapolis, the largest city in indiana), homicides and nonfatal shootings have largely continued to trend upward since 2015. Robberies, carjackings, and other violent crimes have also escalated. For example, homicides have increased over the past 10 years: 110 (2010), 158 (2015), 179 (2018), 172 (2019), 245 (2020), 271 (2021), 226 (2022). Non-fatal shootings totaled 578 in 2022, 675 in 2021, 652 in 2020, 444 in 2019, and 451 in 2018. Indiana's approach to violent crime reduction is a multi-faceted approach.no single level of law enforcement federal, state, or local has the capacity to confront this epidemic alone. Beyond resource constraints, federal agencies face jurisdictional limitations. The united states attorney's office and its investigative partners are empowered to pursue gangs and drug trafficking organizations, as well as individuals who perpetrate commercial robberies, commit violent crimes with firearms, and possess firearms as prohibited persons. But the ability to prosecute defendants who use firearms to commit murder and assault is limited. State and local prosecutors and agencies face similar resource constraints as well as challenges unique to their jurisdictional level such as jail overcrowding. Prosecutors and investigators are unable to tackle this challenge alone; active engagement of community stakeholders is essential to ensuring a comprehensive response to the violent crime problem. Through PSN marion county federal, state, and local partners will work together to capitalize on their overlapping jurisdictions, pool resources and knowledge, and boost the chances of achieving the shared goal of reducing violent crime in the southern district of indiana. Funding will continue to be used to strengthen these overlapping efforts and expedite the data available to partners working toward violent crime reduction.