INDIANAPOLIS — On Oct. 27, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Community Engagement officers went door to door in the 1100-1200 block of North Oxford Street, not to enforce laws and ordinances, but to offer solutions to systemic quality of life issues.
Approximately 25 officers and civilian personnel came together to conduct their first proactive Quality of Life initiative through the Community Engagement Office. They used information gathered from the Real Time Data Center, which used the Social Disorder Index, to identify the most troubled neighborhood in the City of Indianapolis. The 1100-1200 block of North Oxford, on the city’s east side, became the focus of their efforts.
The Department of Public Health and Safety, IMPD and their partners have already reached out to over 2,000 homes and 300 apartments to offer social services to assist in improving the quality of life in troubled areas of Indianapolis. This is an ongoing and collaborative effort that will not only include offering wrap around services during enforcement sweeps, but also be proactive in identifying crime ridden neighborhoods that stand in the most need, such as this Quality of Life sweep that is being highlighted in this release.
The officers, in plain clothes, along with their partners notified the affected district they would be in the neighborhood and requested that uniformed officers patrol outside the area, so as to not alert residents who have a mistrust of the police and instead give them an opportunity to speak to non-uniformed personnel, who were more approachable in appearance.
Walking door to door to 51 residences, officers and their partners made contact with those who were home and spoke with them about issues they were facing. The issues ranged from childcare to healthcare. Officers then provided information on how to address the issues and also offered an opportunity to provide feedback on what the IMPD could do better to serve them. After gathering basic information and identifying what was needed, the team moved on to the next home.
The data collected will be compiled to be taken back out to the focus area to address the issues that were brought to the attention of the team. The follow up was completed on Oct. 31. At that time, the residents met with representatives who can help them overcome the quality of life issues they face on a day to day basis.
Mental health, youth services, addiction assistance, food, housing, and employment help are some of the services offered in the focus area.
The teams also identified neighborhood issues that directly contribute to the root causes of crime. Simple neighborhood disorder attracts crime and can lead to more serious crime. Simple neighborhood disorder is identified as broken windows on homes, overgrown lawns, abandoned property, piles of trash, burnt out street lights, etc. The officers and their partners made note of these items and will work to address them with the hope of reducing crime in the affected neighborhood. The team will continue to monitor the area for improvement.
The Community Engagement Office has been utilized three times since its inception after large scale operations and has seen success. However, this is the first time they have taken a proactive approach and identified a blighted neighborhood where they could move in and provide services before it had an opportunity to get deteriorate further.
The IMPD Community Outreach Office is comprised of Police Athletic League, Youth Services, Behavioral Health Unit, Immigrant Outreach, InPAct Unit. The Department of Public Health and Safety, Indianapolis EMS Core Team, and the Children’s Bureau were partnered with the IMPD in this effort.
Residents who have concerns about quality of life issues in their neighborhoods are encouraged to call the Mayor’s Action Center at (317)327-4622 or Connect2help at 211.