Hogsett defends Indy's crime-fighting record after Braun hints at state intervention
The back-and-forth between the two executives in the state's capital follows a mass shooting downtown after a Fourth of July celebration and a spate of homicides this month — during a year in which homicides and shootings nonetheless remain down from 2024, according to police.
"I respect Gov. Braun's concern, but he's not on the ground in Indianapolis," Hogsett said in a written statement Wednesday morning. "While we are saddened by the incidents that have taken place over the last few weekends, the facts are irrefutable: violence has been on the decline for the last three years. Our gun violence reduction strategy is saving lives."
Braun's comments Monday that "something needs to change" in Indianapolis came in response to a plea from the head of the city's police union, Fraternal Order of Police President Rick Snyder, for state leaders to somehow step in.
The Indianapolis City-County Council is considering a stricter youth curfew and punitive fines for parents whose kids violate curfew, but critics like Snyder doubt it will deter violent crime.
Braun and Senate Pro Tempore Rodric Bray, R-Martinsville, both mentioned the same issue in statements to IndyStar: Indianapolis and Marion County are independent jurisdictions governed by lawfully elected officials, and it's unclear what power state lawmakers have to impose their will.
Snyder suggested the possibility of "a recall option for elected officials, if nothing else for the Prosecutor and Judges at a minimum" in a recent Indianapolis Business Journal column. He has not responded to IndyStar's requests for him to discuss what other ideas he would recommend to state leaders.
Braun has responded to Indiana Republicans' concerns about prosecutors whom they perceive to be too lenient, particularly Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, by backing a new law creating a state review board to target "noncompliant prosecutors."
Speaking Monday, Braun challenged Indianapolis residents to "put different people in charge" and said the state capital seemed safer a decade ago under Republican Mayor Greg Ballard's leadership.
While homicides were lower during Ballard's tenure, they were still climbing. The city broke a record during his second term: 144 criminal homicides in 2015, the most since 1998.
That number steadily rose until 2021, when violent crime spiked nationwide and the city saw a historic 249 criminal homicides. The annual numbers have fallen since then.
So far this year, Indianapolis police have reported 84 criminal homicides. That figure is 27% lower than this time last year, according to IMPD data shared with IndyStar.
Hogsett said his administration continues to push for full staffing of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, adding that IMPD is still suffering from a yearslong hiring freeze that Ballard instituted. After surpassing 1,700 officers in 2019, IMPD's ranks had dwindled to about 1,460 toward the end of last year — about 300 officers below the budgeted amount.
The mayor has also created an office, the Office of Public Health and Safety, to intervene in violence in the city's neighborhoods and to fund grassroots groups who work with at-risk youth.
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