INDIANAPOLIS — Some Indianapolis residents are calling for more meetings with police, hoping to stay ahead of crime in their neighborhoods.
It comes at a time when Indianapolis police have been open about the need to hire more officers and their push for recruits.
Neighbors in Ravenswood said they know the police are understaffed. Still, they hope to start having more community crime-watch meetings with IMPD North District officers as a way to stay proactive.
"The shootings, the robberies, the dope actors," Suzie Stamm said.
Stamm would like to see her Ravenswood neighborhood stay ahead of that kind of crime. She thinks regular neighborhood crime-watch meetings, like the ones she said residents here used to have with IMPD, are part of the answer.
"They stopped the meetings, and I thought they were very important," said Stamm, explaining she's not sure why they happened but that they haven't had regular meetings with police since before the COVID-19 pandemic. She hopes that's changing.
Earlier this week, dozens of people in several of North District neighborhoods met with officers.
"I was very pleased because we have not had meetings for a long time," said Linda Phipps, president of the Dawnbury Neighborhood Association, which is near Ravenswood.
Phipps said she also hopes the meetings continue.
"It gives them a better understanding of our challenges and the challenges on the other side," Phipps said.
One of those challenges IMPD has been vocal about is staffing. Right now, IMPD has more than 1,500 sworn officers on staff. They have budgeted for close to 1,750.
About 200 officers, detectives, analysts, supervisors and support staff cover residents in the city's north district. It encompasses 79 square miles, with close to 210,000 residents.
IMPD released a statement, which said, in part:
"IMPD continues to find efficiencies while still ensuring we meet the expectations of the community. This includes being more focused on our patrols on the small number of people, locations, and behaviors which are the source of the majority of crime incidents."
For residents, the meetings are a way to understand how important it is for them also to stay aware of what's going on where they live.
"When they should call 911 versus calling a non-emergency number," Phipps said.
Neighbors said they're hoping they can start to have quarterly meetings with police to stay on top of concerns.