IMPD Gives First 'Stewardship Report,' A New Push For Transparency

The Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department is making new efforts to communicate with the public, in the form of monthly events they call “stewardship reports.”

The department hosted its first meeting Tuesday morning at Garfield Park.

IMPD Chief Bryan Roach says their goal is to help the public understand issues police face, and to help police better understand issues in the city.

And Roach hopes that connection will help police solve, and ultimately prevent, violent crime.

"The ultimate is for the community to have all of the information that we have as a police department, about the violence," Roach says. "Because we’ve certainly proven that we can’t do it by ourselves."

Roach stressed the importance of increasing the number of police officers on the force, citing a correlation between a drop in officers and a rise in homicides around 2010.

He also says the department is working to assign officers to smaller geographical areas, called beat policing. The practice aims to improve an officer’s relationship with the community.

IMPD outlined five topics it says are critical to improve its effectiveness. The first, gun violence, will be the topic of next month’s stewardship report.