INDIANAPOLIS — At Wednesday’s Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee meeting, Indianapolis Metro Police gave its first update on the rollout of crime fighting technology.
The $9 million investment was announced last October and is part of the mayor’s $150 million American Rescue Plant Act funding for anti-violence initiatives.
Currently, IMPD is setting up three gunshot detection systems, which will alert officers when and where shots are fired.
The companies include Flock, ShotSpotter and J and M Security. The programs will be tested in five square mile areas on the east and near east sides. The plan is to test the programs from mid-August to late-October.
IMPD plans to evaluate whether the systems help with response times and evidence collection. To determine that, the department will work with IUPUI to organize the results.
IMPD also plans to add 127 license plate readers in the coming months but are currently dealing with supply chain issues. So far, there are 70 operating license plate readers in the city. The devices have helped police gather leads in reckless driving cases, hit and runs and homicides.
To increase its presence virtually, IMPD is also planning to add six mobile camera trailers in the next few weeks, devices which can stream video in real time from high-trafficked areas. Currently, the department only has one that is stationed in downtown Broad Ripple.
On top of that, IMPD has about 275 public safety camera views, with about 170 of those connect to the B-Link Program
Since the rollout, IMPD has met with community members in each district to talk about the technology and how it will work. They plan to keep doing so as new devices are added.
The mayor’s $150 million violence reduction plan also includes 100 new IMPD officer positions, 40 civilian position to cover non-emergencies, $45 million to grassroot organizations, 50 peacemakers and $30 million for mental health resources.
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