INDIANAPOLIS — Mayor Hogsett joined Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department (IMPD) Chief Bryan Roach and Office of Public Health and Safety (OPHS) Director of Community Violence Reduction Shonna Majors recently to introduce the new Indy Peacemakers who will be focused on disrupting the spread of violence and fostering positive community engagement throughout the city. The three team members are:
• Joaquina Everette comes to the City after spending nearly two decades in the medical field, serving Indianapolis families in need of health, social service, or mental health programming. A native of Puerto Rico, Joaquina has lived in Indianapolis for more than 20 years. Joaquina’s role will focus on families within IMPD’s Downtown and Southeast districts.
• A native of Gary, Indiana, Casby Williams is a community and youth advocate whose career has focused on working with goal-challenged young adults ages 16-30 to help them achieve personal and professional success. He hopes to assist youth in IMPD’s Southwest and Northwest districts move forward and become productive and valuable residents of Indianapolis.
• Jeff Cottrell overcame a challenging adolescence in Anderson, Indiana, and began his career managing community programs designed to provide opportunities for youth, build stronger families and neighborhoods, and reduce recidivism. Jeff came to Indianapolis to work in education, intervening in behavioral issues in classrooms and serving as the bridge between teachers and challenged students. Jeff will serve in neighborhoods in IMPD’s North District.
The new Indy Peacemakers join the violence reduction team in OPHS, created as part of Mayor Hogsett’s comprehensive violence reduction strategy. The strategy includes:
• a crackdown on the illegal possession of guns by violent criminals that resulted in the removal of more than 3,300 firearms from the community in 2018
• investment of close to $4 million in neighborhood-based crime prevention efforts this year
• expanding access to wrap-around social services for those most in need through efforts such as the recent neighborhood resource fair in Haughville
The community-focused strategy was rolled out last summer as IMPD was returning to a community-based beat policing model that allows every officer to know their neighborhood, and every neighborhood to know their officer. In August, Mayor Hogsett and Director Majors awarded $300,000 in grants to grassroots organizations engaged in violence prevention. Applications for the 2019 violence prevention grants will launch on April 15.
Indianapolis has seen meaningful results since implementation of the violence reduction strategy during the second half of 2018. IMPD ended the year with a 64 percen clearance rate, up more than 20 percent over 2017.
