INDIANAPOLIS — It's an all-too familiar scene across some neighborhoods in Indianapolis.
The sound of gunfire, followed by the flashing lights of police cars, and then a family — stricken by grief from the loss of a loved one.
"I never thought that I would be getting ready to cremate my daughter," said Crystal Conner, whose 18-year-old daughter, Ariel Calhoun, was fatally shot Dec. 3 near Hague Road and East 75th Street.
As homicides and shootings continue to plague various communities across the Circle City and the nation, United States Attorney General Merrick Garland has released what he calls the Justice Department's Violent Crime Reduction Roadmap.
"This is a problem we're never going to arrest or prosecute our way out of. We need to work together with enforcement and services, and this roadmap really helps to provide a lot of those resources," U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana Zachary Myers said.
The plan consists of 10 steps, like identifying the people and places driving the violence, policing and investing key locations, and setting aside funding for new stakeholders and strategies.
In a statement, Garland said the violent crime reduction plan has worked in cities like Detroit, where they've seen the fewest amount of homicides this year since the 1960s.
And Myers said Indianapolis has been ahead of the game when addressing violent crimes.
"A lot of the tenets of the roadmap are things we've already implemented here in Indianapolis through our gun violence reduction strategy, our Indy Peace Fellows and other partnerships that we have bringing together law enforcement, community groups, prosecutors and other service providers," Myers said.
According to IMPD, there have been 166 criminal homicides this year, compared to the 204 Indianapolis saw in 2022.