'Step in': Police union leader wants Braun, state leaders to intervene in Indy crime-fighting
The statement from Rick Snyder, president of the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police, comes as city officials consider an earlier youth curfew to deter late-night violence like the July 5 mass shooting that killed two teens and injured five other people.
Those victims were among 30 people shot and five killed from Friday to Sunday over the Fourth of July holiday weekend, the city's most violent weekend of 2025. Violence continued into this past weekend, with at least six people killed from July 11-14, according to IndyStar's homicide tracker.
Snyder called a proposed Marion County curfew that would be two hours earlier a "shallow and shortsighted approach." To bolster the earlier curfew, Indianapolis City-County Council members are discussing the possibility of fines and mandatory parenting classes for parents and guardians whose children repeatedly violate curfew.
"It is apparent Indianapolis leaders are stuck in the very corner they constructed with misguided policies and agendas — as now we see nothing but paralysis by politics," Snyder said in his July 14 statement. "It's time for the Indiana Legislature and Governor to step in. Call us, we have solutions."
Snyder did not immediately respond to IndyStar's follow-up request to learn more about the specific policies he would propose to state leaders.
More: Indy superintendents back youth curfew as IMPD preps for weekend before WNBA All-Star game
Despite the recent high-profile incidents of violence, an IndyStar analysis found that significantly fewer killings occurred in Indianapolis in the first six months of 2025 than in previous years. City leaders have reiterated that downtown is Indianapolis' safest neighborhood.
Snyder also cast doubt on Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, saying he's "more focused on what crimes he won't prosecute."
A spokesperson for the prosecutor's office rejected that characterization, saying that Mears' office typically files more than 18,000 criminal cases a year and prosecutes 20-25% of cases that reach trial in Indiana annually.
Neither Braun, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department nor Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett immediately returned requests for comment sent Monday afternoon.
This story may be updated.
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