INDIANAPOLIS–This week the Indianapolis City-County Council approved spending $150 million to help fight crime and its root causes in the city. That money will go to provide for putting more cops on the street, but also to make sure when people get out of jail or prison that they get the help they need to not offend again.
“The American Rescue Plan dollars will work hand-in-hand with the 2022 operating budget. Those initiatives will compliment some of the investments that are in the 2022 operating budget,” said Taylor Schaffer, chief of staff for Mayor Joe Hogsett.
The money for the new programs and new officers was approved by Congress during the COVID pandemic.
Shaffer said Indy is putting the money to work to help reduce violent crime.
“Those dollars will move into a fiscal recovery fund that the city-county enterprise will be able to leverage to make the investments,” she said. “One hundred new police officers, 50 additional peacemakers, re-entry services, mental health services, a wide variety of investments in the community.”
The 100 officers will be added over three years time. The peacemakers are part of a program that the Hogsett administration believes has worked in stopping violent incidents.
In addition to 100 cops, the city will also be able to hire unarmed personnel to help with the paperwork and other tasks, freeing up the sworn officers to work the streets.
In a year where Indy is dealing with record-breaking violence, the solution may not be clear. But, the mayor’s office has pushed for the investments in the hope that attacking some of the root causes will at least cut down on it.
In addition to putting money toward hiring new officers, the technology will also get upgrades, like gunshot detectors and license plate readers.
