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23 homicides this year of people under 18 | Community organizations work to enact change in Indianapolis

Rev. Charles Harrison said partnerships with IMPD and the community have helped deter crime in the areas his Ten Point Coalition patrols.

INDIANAPOLIS — So far this year, crime in Indianapolis has taken the lives of 206 people, and 141 of those are unsolved.

Police told 13News there have 167 criminal homicides. A report from police listed 23 people under the age of 18 have died. 

Organizations have been working tirelessly, pushing for change.

"Our very presence on the street, I think, was a deterrent, and it made a lot of people feel comfortable," Rev. Dr. Charles Harrison said Thursday at Barnes United Methodist Church.

Harrison talked about the success of the Ten Point Coalition, the organization he founded more than 20 years ago to help reduce crime in Indianapolis. 

"When we went into Butler-Tarkington in the fall of 2015, there was a gang war going on involving four different gangs," Harrison said. "The role that we played is because our OGs tend to know a lot of people. We were able to get two of the gangs to do a truce. We got those groups to stand down because five people had been killed in that area within two months."

Harrison said partnerships with IMPD and the community have helped deter crime in the areas Ten Point patrols.

"We're much more targeted on what we call 'hot spot' areas in a neighborhood," Harrison said.

Credit: WTHR
Rev. Charles Harrison

Those "hot spots" include areas where shots were fired, or someone was shot and injured or killed.

"Those are the areas where we spend probably 70% of our time now," Harrison said.

According to Ten Point Coalition, six of the group's eight patrol areas has yet to see a juvenile or young adult killed.

Five of the eight patrol areas have not seen a murder or homicide for the year.

Ten Point patrols Butler-Tarkington, areas near Crown Hill, Highland, 29th and MLK, and areas near Mitthoefer and German Church roads.

Antonio Patton, with Indy Peace Fellowship, works with young people in and out of schools to give them a voice and a path to success.  

"The work is what I wake up for. To see those kids every Tuesday. To see the kids in this community. Whatever community I get to meet a young man, a young lady, that comes from a broken bridge," Patton said.

Credit: WTHR
Antonio Patton, community activist and founder of M.O.V.E., speaks to teens at a recent Barbershop Talks session.

Patton knows what loss feels like.

He lost his niece to gun violence on Oct. 6, 2021, and said there is healing through mental health counseling.

"Going through and seeing the traumatic trauma that was left behind, the carnage. I ID'd the body," Patton said. "The mental health is so missed."

It's something he helps young people with.

"That's why we created this space, Barbershop Talks. Forty-five students over at George Washington (High School) allows us into their world every Tuesday. When school is out, we get calls, we get texts. That's where the real work goes," Patton said. "The work goes when these kids are subliminally sending their SOS signals out and their pain. Our job is to try to capture that formula and ignite their purpose."

Patton and Harrison agree many young people no longer value the sanctity of life.

"When I started Ten Point 24 years ago, we would run into a group of kids. Of six, maybe one had a gun. Today, five out of six or six out of six now have guns," Harrison said.

He said young people aren't afraid to show their weapons, either.

"Some have showed it to us when we're out on the streets to let us know that they're carrying," Harrison said.

Patton said it's also about the price tag.

"You hear the kids in real world conversations say, 'I'm not giving up my Gucci shoes. Imma die for mines.' I say, 'Do you realize what you're saying?' I said, 'Say it again so you can hear yourself. You're basically saying those shoes are worth more than your life,'" Patton said. "It's the price tag is what they respect. They don't respect the value of their life, and so that's the dichotomy that we're dealing with."

Both have made change and continue to impact their community to spark a purpose-driven life and away from a life of crime.

"It's the power of presence," Harrison said.

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