Donnelly Vows to Work on Indy Crime Prevention

U.S Senator Joe Donnelly is hearing from Indianapolis residents on what they want to see done to address a recent increase in violence in the city.

With the homicide rate on pace to be the worst in seven years, Donnelly is holding listening sessions to garner ideas.

He says hearing testimony from those who have been victims is his biggest take away.

"We had two moms here whose sons were killed.  We had a wife here whose husband was killed on Labor Day a few years ago.  So, you had the actual victims of this violence, of this circle of violence right here," he said.  "What they were saying is 'look, we have to try and bring this neighborhood back together.  We have to end this and we need to end it now."

The Senator says his primary goal is to provide assistance in bringing the community together.

"You saw a police chief here.  You saw a sheriff here.  You saw other community leaders here and trying to make sure that we can put the resources in here, not only federal grants," he said.  "We are a portion of what happens, but so much more is local and so much more is driven right here by the community so what we are trying to do is bring people together to make that happen."

Donnelly says he wants to work on putting together grants to pay for more Indianapolis police and says he is currently helping the Haughville neighborhood secure federal funds to pay for putting together a crime prevention plan.

"What I want to try and do is try and make sure that we have better ways to deal with this, that we have the people on the street to be able to provide safety.  To be able to provide that sense of safety," he said.  "We have a lot of challenges ahead."

Donnelly says his office can’t do any of the grant writing, but can assist communities in putting grant packages together.