Building a better Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department

Driving the news: The department is holding listening sessions throughout the city to hear directly from the public about what's broken in their communities and how police can be part of the repair.

• Five more sessions are being held. The next is 6pm Thursday at Hawthorne Community Center.
• The final four sessions will be at Central Library at 11:30am and 4:30pm on June 9; Southeast Community Services at 6pm on June 11; and the International District Community Center at 6pm on June 16.

Between the lines: Residents do not need to live in the district where a listening session is to participate. Comments are also being collected online through an anonymous survey.

Zoom in: What you won't find at the IMPD listening sessions are officers. The gatherings are police-free zones being facilitated by local firm Taylor Advising.

• The intent is to forge an environment where everyone feels comfortable to express themselves, including those who may have had negative experiences with law enforcement in the past, firm president and principal consultant Marla Taylor tells Axios.
• She also credits IMPD Chief Chris Bailey for the fresh approach, stating this is a "first for IMPD."

What they're saying: "We really specialize in making sure that we can create safe spaces, taking a trauma-informed approach, where folks with different communication styles, needs and learning styles can participate in a way that is best for them," Taylor said.

• "We know that every single person in our community has a valuable perspective and voice here, so creating different avenues for folks to be able to share their perspectives and voices is definitely at the top of our priority in this whole process."

Yes, but: While they aren't at the sessions, police are still very much part of the process.

• Taylor Advising is also gathering feedback in a similar way from officers and professional staff to ensure the plan includes everyone who calls Indy home.

The vibe: At Monday's listening session at John Boner Community Center, attendees wrote responses to questions about city policing on large sheets of white paper posted on the walls.

• Questions involved barriers to communication and what the community believes officers should prioritize.
• Responses ranged from complaints about speeding to detailed accounts of clashes between police and the public.

More than anything else, Indianapolis resident Maxie Turman wants to know the people who protect the city are really listening.

• "People feel strongly about this," he said. "There's always some kind of incident or something going on."

What's next: Taylor told Axios that once the community input and market research phase wraps, that information will be used to create an initial draft that will be submitted for public comment in November.

• After another round of gathering feedback, the plan will be refined and implemented by IMPD in January.

The bottom line: If you think the IMPD can do better, now is the time to say it.