Violence is an ongoing concern in Indianapolis. Monday, 60 new police officers were sworn in and Tuesday a student at Arsenal Tech was shot, forcing the school to lockdown for several hours.
Later this year, the city is bringing in leaders from across the country for an anti-violence summit to address the issues.
Nationally, homicides are trending down, but Indianapolis is experiencing a rise.
The city is on pace for 140 murders this year which would make it the deadliest in the city in seven years.
U.S Attorney Joe Hogsett calls it the worst outbreak of violence in a generation so he is bring public safety officials from major urban areas around the country together to come up with solutions.
"Indianapolis seems to be an isolated circumstance where gun related crime, drug related transactions, and ultimately violence and, unfortunately, also homicides seem to be on the increase," he said. "I think that a national summit, bringing together Department of Justice officials and federal prosecutors throughout the country, the time is right. We have to do something to stem this growing tide of violence."
The summit will feature panelists from at least eleven other cities.
The conversations will center around best practices for combating violence in Indianapolis.
There will be discussions on crime prevention programs, enforcement techniques, and re-entry initiatives.
The summit is September 3rd through the 5th.
"This is about generating ideas that will make our city safer," said Hogsett. "Trading on the experience other communities have had in terms of stemming the rising tide of violence, particularly those cities who are able to bring success stories to Indianapolis so that perhaps, we can implement some of their successes here at home."
