• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram
  • Subscribe to the Magazine
American Police Beat

American Police Beat Magazine

Law Enforcement Publication

  • Home
  • Editor’s Picks
    • The power of teamwork
      Stay awake and alert on the job
      The worst rank in law enforcement
      Firearms maintenance
      Why fries need salt
  • Topics
    • On the Job
      • “An emotional encounter”: Connecticut police officer talks a man...
        California police officer uses K-9’s leash to rescue drowning man
        Small town North Carolina police officer rescues man from house fire
        Boulder police recover $400,000 in stolen paintings, drug stash in...
        California police officer rescues three people from car teetering on...
    • Labor
      • Sioux Falls Police Department offers $5K hiring bonuses to boost...
        San Francisco mulls over increasing police recruitment bonuses to...
        Nevada may soon allow noncitizens to become police officers to...
        Florida pays out $5M in hiring bonuses for more than one thousand...
        Cops leave NYPD in highest number since 9/11
    • Tech
      • Airbnb expands law enforcement portal to fight child trafficking
        West Virginia law enforcement agencies use drones to get a...
        FBI seizes website of notorious ransomware gang in cybercrime...
        Wisconsin law enforcement warn of iPhone crash detection feature...
        Snapchat sued for facilitating sale of fentanyl that led to fatal...
    • Training
      • Pennsylvania police utilize VR for de-escalation training
        Running your patrol rifle like a champion
        Present ability, opportunity and apparent intent
        Defensive tactics
        Mechanics, consistency and aggression
    • Policy
      • Arkansas sheriff’s offices refuse to enforce federal ATF gun policy
        President Biden signs bill expanding national missing persons database
        California Highway Patrol spotlights new traffic laws for 2023
        Texas law enforcement leaders say the state has too many police...
        Justice Department launches new language initiative after resolving...
    • Health/Wellness
      • Retired Wisconsin police officer offers mental health services for...
        Coping with internal investigation or legal action
        The value of data: Wellness through the eyes of officers
        What officers love, hope and worry about
        Don’t be “that guy” — get moving
    • Community
      • North Charleston police officer drafted by professional football team
        “I’m very, very blessed”: Cleveland police officer back on...
        Newark good Samaritan honored for assisting wounded officers
        LAPD chief bans “Thin Blue Line” flag from department use
        Friday Night Lights duty
    • Offbeat
      • Drunk-driving suspect performs backflip for Ohio police during...
        “Like a scene from ‘Home Alone’”: Georgia man slips on ice...
        “Some real sitcom stuff there”: Florida burglars call 9-1-1 for...
        Wyoming police officer restores classic Chevy Bel Air as police...
        Santa Cruz police arrest 19-year-old for handing out fake parking...
    • We Remember
      • “I had a calling”: Colorado cadet inspired by fallen hero Eric...
        Chicago police remember fallen and injured officers this holiday...
        Deputy killed by roommate after he “jokingly” pulled trigger of...
        Maryland’s oldest cold case solved
        At least 13 officers shot in five days as wave of violence sweeps...
  • On the Job
    • “An emotional encounter”: Connecticut police officer talks a man...
      California police officer uses K-9’s leash to rescue drowning man
      Small town North Carolina police officer rescues man from house fire
      Boulder police recover $400,000 in stolen paintings, drug stash in...
      California police officer rescues three people from car teetering on...
  • Labor
    • Sioux Falls Police Department offers $5K hiring bonuses to boost...
      San Francisco mulls over increasing police recruitment bonuses to...
      Nevada may soon allow noncitizens to become police officers to...
      Florida pays out $5M in hiring bonuses for more than one thousand...
      Cops leave NYPD in highest number since 9/11
  • Tech
    • Airbnb expands law enforcement portal to fight child trafficking
      West Virginia law enforcement agencies use drones to get a...
      FBI seizes website of notorious ransomware gang in cybercrime...
      Wisconsin law enforcement warn of iPhone crash detection feature...
      Snapchat sued for facilitating sale of fentanyl that led to fatal...
  • Training
    • Pennsylvania police utilize VR for de-escalation training
      Running your patrol rifle like a champion
      Present ability, opportunity and apparent intent
      Defensive tactics
      Mechanics, consistency and aggression
  • Policy
    • Arkansas sheriff’s offices refuse to enforce federal ATF gun policy
      President Biden signs bill expanding national missing persons database
      California Highway Patrol spotlights new traffic laws for 2023
      Texas law enforcement leaders say the state has too many police...
      Justice Department launches new language initiative after resolving...
  • Health/Wellness
    • Retired Wisconsin police officer offers mental health services for...
      Coping with internal investigation or legal action
      The value of data: Wellness through the eyes of officers
      What officers love, hope and worry about
      Don’t be “that guy” — get moving
  • Community
    • North Charleston police officer drafted by professional football team
      “I’m very, very blessed”: Cleveland police officer back on...
      Newark good Samaritan honored for assisting wounded officers
      LAPD chief bans “Thin Blue Line” flag from department use
      Friday Night Lights duty
  • Offbeat
    • Drunk-driving suspect performs backflip for Ohio police during...
      “Like a scene from ‘Home Alone’”: Georgia man slips on ice...
      “Some real sitcom stuff there”: Florida burglars call 9-1-1 for...
      Wyoming police officer restores classic Chevy Bel Air as police...
      Santa Cruz police arrest 19-year-old for handing out fake parking...
  • We Remember
    • “I had a calling”: Colorado cadet inspired by fallen hero Eric...
      Chicago police remember fallen and injured officers this holiday...
      Deputy killed by roommate after he “jokingly” pulled trigger of...
      Maryland’s oldest cold case solved
      At least 13 officers shot in five days as wave of violence sweeps...
  • Between the Lines
    • Persecution of the LEO is Classic Schadenfreude
      The Rule of Law is Worthless Without Order
      School policing: a paradox of the defund movement
      Defending the honor of the LE profession – finally!
      The dichotomy of the defund movement: reality setting in
  • About
  • The Magazine
  • Events
  • Partners
  • Products
  • Advertise
  • Contact
Search

On the Job

Rise in homicide rates alarm Indianapolis police and community leaders

APB Team Published February 6, 2022 @ 12:00 pm PST

iStock.com/kali9

Indianapolis homicide rates are continuing to climb, concerning community leaders and law enforcement who are working together to ameliorate the situation.

2021 was a record-breaking year for the second year in a row with 271 homicides — 249 of those being criminal homicides (or homicides with intent). The troubling stats surpassed those of the previous year, which saw a total of 245 homicides.

The flood of cases has also stretched thin the city’s criminal justice system. Marion County prosecutors conducted 31 murder trials last year, but only one of them involved a case from 2021. According to WFYI Indianapolis, it often takes months or years to obtain sufficient evidence and other documentation to go forward with a trial.

According to IUPUI criminal justice professor Thomas Stucky, the lengthy process often puts undue stress on the families of victims.

“It’s really important that we think about each of these instances individually as a person whose life is lost, and that the individual’s family and friends and the community are forever impacted by that,” he said.

Experts believe the reason for the increase in homicides has been driven by a mix of social forces, including the pandemic, poverty, social conflict and the presence of illegal guns.

For example, the pandemic’s increase in unemployment rates, as well as its damaging effects on domestic violence and drug abuse, could be important factors underlying the increase in murders.

Captain Roger Spurgeon, who commands IMPD’s homicide branch, put it succinctly:

“I think there’s a lot of frustrations that are boiling over with people being more restricted than they have been in years past. And so maybe they’re more quick to anger and quick to act on frustrations than they might have been a couple of years ago.”

Research specialist Ernesto Lopez with the nonprofit the Council on Criminal Justice hypothesized that the murder of George Floyd and the following social unrest could also have been a trigger behind the homicide trend.

“It’s difficult to say what it was about George Floyd’s murder that caused or is associated with this increase in homicide, whether it’s policing, with police withdrawing, or public trust, we can’t really separate those mechanisms,” Lopez pondered.

Community leaders like Pastor David Greene said that the key player behind homicides is always poverty.

“It comes back to economics and dollars, and when you don’t have economics and dollars, you see all this other stuff manifest itself in ugly ways,” Greene said. “People are trying to make it, so they’re going to do anything to make it, and they’re going to take chances, and they’re going to take risks, and that’s going to lead to the violence.”

As for why so many homicide cases remain unsolved, Greene said the problem could be a lack of public trust in law enforcement.

According to IMPD data, the city has a clearance (or arrest) rate of around 54%. Greene thinks that due to the lack of faith in law enforcement, witnesses are unwilling to come forward with information that can lead to arrests. The pastor added that by improving clearance rates, the public might regain trust in the system, which will ultimately reduce homicide rates.

“If we don’t solve the solvability rate, or if we don’t improve that rather, then I’m not sure we will see a significant decrease in the homicides,” Greene said.

Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears further blamed the low clearance rate and solvability on pandemic-caused workforce shortages.

“The unfortunate reality is that more prosecutors are carrying a heavier caseload than what they would ordinarily carry,” Mears said. “It’s been a significant burden on our staff, they’ve done a tremendous job of making sure that we do everything we can, but there’s only so much that we can ask of the people who work in the prosecutor’s office.”

Moving forward, both law enforcement and community leaders feel the need to work together to set things in the right direction.

“That’s a bending on both sides,” Greene said. “We have some systemic changes that have to be made, and we’re going to have to work together.”

Already, Spurgeon says that the criminal justice system is regaining its pre-pandemic strength after seeing a 6% improvement in clearance rates from 2020.

Categories: On the Job Tags: community leaders, Marion County, David Greene, Law Enforcement, criminal justice, pandemic, Indianapolis, IMPD, murder, homicide rates

Primary Sidebar

Recent Articles

  • “An emotional encounter”: Connecticut police officer talks a man out of jumping off bridge
  • North Charleston police officer drafted by professional football team
  • National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund Announces December 2022 Officer of the Month
  • “I’m very, very blessed”: Cleveland police officer back on patrol after surviving stage-4 ovarian cancer
  • Airbnb expands law enforcement portal to fight child trafficking
  • West Virginia law enforcement agencies use drones to get a bird’s-eye view of crime scenes
  • Sioux Falls Police Department offers $5K hiring bonuses to boost recruiting and diversity
  • Retired Wisconsin police officer offers mental health services for first responders
  • FBI seizes website of notorious ransomware gang in cybercrime crackdown
  • San Francisco mulls over increasing police recruitment bonuses to avoid “cata-strophic” staffing shortage

Footer

Our Mission
To serve as a trusted voice of the nation’s law enforcement community, providing informative, entertaining and inspiring content on interesting and engaging topics affecting peace officers today.

Contact us: info@apbweb.com | (800) 234-0056.

  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • Instagram

Categories

  • Editor’s Picks
  • On the Job
  • Labor
  • Tech
  • Training
  • Policy
  • Health/Wellness
  • Community
  • Offbeat
  • We Remember
  • Jobs and Careers
  • Events

Editor’s Picks

The power of teamwork

The power of teamwork

July 23, 2021

Stay awake and alert on the job

Stay awake and alert on the job

July 20, 2021

The worst rank in law enforcement

The worst rank in law enforcement

July 19, 2021

Firearms maintenance

Firearms maintenance

July 04, 2021

Privacy Policy | Copyright © 2023 APB Media, LLC | Website design, development and maintenance by 911MEDIA

Open

Subscribe

Close

Receive the latest news and updates from American Police Beat directly to your inbox!

  • This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.