Indianapolis crime down in first half of the year
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Violent crime in Indianapolis during the first half of 2024 has decreased compared to the previous year, continuing a positive trend of improvement following a post-pandemic spike.
Why it matters: New IMPD data reveals that the second half of the year began with the same positive momentum, suggesting that recent public safety investments are paying off.
By the numbers: The 80 homicides in Indy in the first six months of this year represented a 16.6% drop from the same period in 2023, per data from the Major Cities Chiefs Association.
- That was tied for the biggest decline among the four tracked categories of violent crime, which also include aggravated assault, robbery, and rape.
- Aggravated assault was down 16.6%, and robbery fell by 15.9%
- Rape was the only category to increase, climbing 4.4% from last year.
Driving the news: Mayor Joe Hogsett proposed his 2025 budget to the City-County Council last week. The budget includes new mental health and wellness support for Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officers, continues the Peacemakers violence reduction program, and funds 1,743 officers.
The latest: There were 96 homicides at the end of July, down from 106 at the same time last year, according to data shared last week by IMPD Chief Chris Bailey.
- Bailey said non-fatal shootings are also down.
What they're saying: "We obviously still have a lot of work to do," Bailey said, "but I think the investments that have been made by the council and the mayor the last three years have been a significant reason why we see these declines."
- Bailey also attributed the decline to anti-violence work led by the Office of Public Health and Safety.
The big picture: The drop mirrors a national trend, and provides additional evidence that the COVID-era crime wave is receding.
- Homicides are more straightforward to compare year-to-year from pre-2021 to the present because the criteria for classifying them have remained the same. At the same time, police have changed their methods of recording other violent crimes.
- Beginning in 2021, the FBI and police departments shifted to the National Incident-Based Reporting System (NIBRS) from the decades-old Summary Reporting System (SRS).
- That allowed law enforcement agencies to submit more details on crimes like aggravated assaults but resulted in reported surges in violent crime in cities like Chicago and Minneapolis.
Zoom out: Overall, homicides in the first half of this year fell 13% compared to the same period a year ago in the 66 American cities included in the Major Cities Chiefs Association report.
- Boston (-80%), Philadelphia (-70%) and Baltimore (-45%) experienced notable declines.
- But some western cities experienced surges in homicides, like Portland (278%), Seattle (59%) and Las Vegas (55%).