Latest news with #IndyPeace
Indianapolis Star
07-07-2025
- Indianapolis Star
Indianapolis is working on a strategy to stop youth gun violence
The community is right to call for action following a tragic wave of shootings involving minors in downtown Indianapolis. Two teenagers were killed and five adults were shot in a mass shooting last week. This kind of violence has yet to be specifically targeted by prevention efforts. Indianapolis, however, has achieved three and a half consecutive years of gun violence reduction, thanks in part to the city's Gun Violence Reduction Strategy, which began in Jan. 2022. My organization provides technical assistance and training to the city on the strategy. According to data from the Indianapolis Police Department, from Jan. 1, 2022, until June 30, 2025, the number of murders declined 55% and the number of non-fatal, injury shootings dropped by 44%. Just this year, halfway through 2025, there has been a 30% year-to-date reduction in murders and a 20% decrease in non-fatal, injury shootings. The strategy works by focusing interventions on the small number of individuals who are driving gun violence in the city, primarily 18 to 35 year old males with significant criminal justice involvement, sometimes involved in groups or gangs and often a part of a retaliatory cycle of violence. This year, less than 10% of murders and less than 15% of non-fatal shootings involved juveniles. The strategy also involves community violence intervention from the Indy Peace initiative. Trained outreach workers, violence interrupters, and life coaches reach out to, engage, and intensively support those individuals identified as being at very high risk of being involved in violence. Numerous community-based organizations funded by the Elevation Grant program also provide wraparound services. Additionally, the IMPD also focuses enforcement on those who are driving most gun violence. As a result, the initiative has been very effective. To effectively solve the problem of youth violence, however, we need a strategy focused on minors. Several organizations have partnered to develop such an initiative, including the Marion County Probation Department and the youth focused groups VOICES and New BOY. The initiative should be launched this month. While it is important to celebrate the steep declines in gun violence overall in Indianapolis, it is time to implement a new strategy to reduce youth gun violence.
Yahoo
17-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Indy Peace hosts national training for hospital violence intervention professionals
Indy Peace Fellowship hosted hospital violence intervention professionals from across the country for a weeklong national training for the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention's (HAVI) National Violence Intervention training. On May 16, more than a dozen professionals were presented with a certificate to take back to their hospital-linked violence intervention programs. Throughout the week, participants engaged in forums on topics like trauma-informed care, violence as a public health issue, grief, loss, and the emotional toll of frontline work. The training is from HAVI, the national network supporting hospital-linked strategies to disrupt cycles of violence. Kyndra Simmons, senior director of the communities and practice division at HAVI said violence prevention professionals contribute to public safety in ways that may go unnoticed. "What I don't think that people realize is how much they contribute to public safety and how many lives they touch on the regular, because these folks in this room, they do some life-changing work," Simmons said. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett was in attendance as HAVI representatives passed out certificates to participants. Indy Peace, a partnership between the Indy Public Safety Foundation and the city of Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety, was developed as part of Hogsett's Violence Reduction Strategy. Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at and follow her on X, formerly Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON. This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Indy Peace hosts national training for hospital violence intervention
Indianapolis Star
17-05-2025
- Health
- Indianapolis Star
Indy Peace hosts national training for hospital violence intervention professionals
Indy Peace Fellowship hosted hospital violence intervention professionals from across the country for a weeklong national training for the Health Alliance for Violence Intervention's (HAVI) National Violence Intervention training. On May 16, more than a dozen professionals were presented with a certificate to take back to their hospital-linked violence intervention programs. Throughout the week, participants engaged in forums on topics like trauma-informed care, violence as a public health issue, grief, loss, and the emotional toll of frontline work. The training is from HAVI, the national network supporting hospital-linked strategies to disrupt cycles of violence. Kyndra Simmons, senior director of the communities and practice division at HAVI said violence prevention professionals contribute to public safety in ways that may go unnoticed. "What I don't think that people realize is how much they contribute to public safety and how many lives they touch on the regular, because these folks in this room, they do some life-changing work," Simmons said. Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett was in attendance as HAVI representatives passed out certificates to participants. Indy Peace, a partnership between the Indy Public Safety Foundation and the city of Indianapolis Office of Public Health and Safety, was developed as part of Hogsett's Violence Reduction Strategy.
