Indianapolis, Indiana – As we approach to the very end of the year, IMPD Chief Taylor says that 2021 has been one of the most violent years in the recent history in terms of deadly incident across the city.
In multiple occasions, we reported about the number of deadly violent cases in the city of Indianapolis throughout the year and the numbers show that the violent crime cases are on the rise.
With approaching to the end of this year, Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department Chief Randal Taylor said he looks forward for improvements in 2022 as the local authorities are about to implement new technologies which they believe will help them a lot in battling the rising trend of violent crime cases.
“It’s discouraging because so many families have been impacted by this and so much is senseless,” Taylor said.
In a recent letter Taylor wrote to Indianapolis Star, he explained what and how the local authorities are trying to combat the violent crimes in Indianapolis.
“I think when FedEx occurred, that got me the most because I was dealing with all these families right here,” he said.
One of the major issues for the authorities, something that we also reported about few months ago, is the fact that offenders are bonding out of jail very often. Now, the law enforcement agencies are encouraging those responsible for this trend to find a solution.
“Just people committing violence, but once you get locked up, honestly, I think you need to stay there until it’s adjudicated in court because we’ve had a couple of cases in which people charged with violent felonies commit more violent crimes,” Taylor said. “There has to be a way to stop that. I’m discouraged we have that going on in Indianapolis because I think it’s totally unnecessary.”
New technology will kick in for IMPD in 2022 with the Shot Spotter program getting a trial run in Indianapolis. IMPD is working on where the gunshot detection sensors and cameras will go. The department budgeted $1 million to pay for three years of the pilot program.
“It uses cameras and audio to pinpoint where shots are fired in an effort to get our officers in those areas much quicker and come up with potential suspects and find victims quicker,” Taylor said.
Additionally, Taylor said that violence-reduction teams that were created in every single district are working round the clock in combating the gun-related spike in cases.
“We hope to bolster those and get a better picture what that looks like for a full year since we started that mid-year last year,” Taylor said.
Currently, there are 1,600 officers with the department, while the department is staffed for 1,743 officers. Taylor believes they will be able to hire at least 100 officers more in 2022 which will additionally help the department in combating violent crimes and reduce response times.
The department is not immune from retirements or resignations. The agency is well aware of the stresses of the job and is thinking about creating a mental health screening for its officers.
“I think that’s owed to them,” Taylor said. “The wise thing for us to do as a department is to make sure we take care of the physical and mental needs and try to get tools to do their jobs safely and do it well.”
