I’ve got to give Public Safety Director Troy Riggs credit.
He managed to drag Mayor Greg Ballard’s Administration into doing something they should’ve done from day one. Namely, use census data to understand the severe problems existing in Indianapolis neighborhoods and use that data to craft solutions to those problems.
Riggs, Deputy Public Safety Director Valerie Washington and IMPD got together with IUPUI’s POLIS Center and the SAVI database to develop some in-depth analysis of neighborhoods with severe crime problems. They now want to use the data to craft some holistic solutions.
Using Census data to discover neighborhood problems and craft solutions is something many American cities do.
Trendy So-Bro: Unfortunately, Mayor Greg Ballard’s never shown interest in understanding what’s going on in Indy’s neighborhoods… unless said neighborhood is swarming with smarmy developers scheming to attract the moneyed classes, (i.e. Downtown, Broad Ripple and the oh so trendy-sounding “So-Bro”) the Mayor and his minions haven’t cared about the rest of Indy’s neighborhoods.
Nope, in my view, the Ballard Administration only cares about their absurd premise that Indy can solve its tax revenue problems by attracting 50,000 new residents earning over $50,000.
Meanwhile, Riggs’ new “analytical review and data-driven approach” to ID crime ridden neighborhoods for help, showcases the same high-crime neighborhoods we’ve known about for decades.
I was amused that 29th and MLK on the near northwest side made the list of problem neighborhoods.
I remember a hot day three years ago, when Mayor Ballard lured Martin Luther King III to dedicate the “fixing-up” of MLK using TIF cash. “We’re revitalizing the neighborhood,” the mayor crowed then.
Now three years later, the neighborhood where Ten Point Coalition is headquartered, is 712 percent more likely to have criminal homicides and 804 percent more likely to have non-fatal shootings that the city/county as a whole.
Riggs’ analysis didn’t release racial/ethnic data on the neighborhoods, which caused Indy’s mainstream media to lead viewers and readers to assume these six high crime areas are all African-American neighborhoods.
Well, 16th & Tibbs, 29th & MLK, 34th & Illinois, 38th & Sherman are 90 percent-plus African-American neighborhoods.
But, 42nd & Post (Census Tract is 3308.03) is just 66.8 percent Black; 20.9 percent Hispanic and 12 percent non-Hispanic white. (Oh, I assume Riggs’ analysis uses Census data as no citations were provided in the data shared with media).
But the surprise is the neighborhoods around New York and Sherman Drive. They defy Indy’s perception of a crime-ridden area.
Riggs’ analysis showed it’s the poorest of the six neighborhoods, with 57.1 percent of household earning less than $25,000 yearly. Where 55.8 percent of residents lack a high school diploma.
But this neighborhood where criminal homicides are 215 percent higher and non fatal shootings are 396 percent higher than the rest of Indianapolis; where ambulance runs for mental health problems are 322 percent above the rest of Indy is far from a Black-majority neighborhood.
The New York/Sherman area comprises Census Tracts 3547, 3548, 3549, 3550, 3551, 3553 and 3554. The area’s just 28.3 percent Black, 16.2 percent Hispanic and 53.8 percent non-Hispanic white. The shortcoming in Riggs’ initiative, of course, is that there’s no effort to provide funding for the needed services to help turn these six neighborhoods around.
The multi-service/community centers serving these six areas are cash-poor.
And though the United Way is partnering in Riggs’ effort, in my view, they’re too blinded by their hyperactive preschool push to focus on anything else.
Finally, it’s odd to me that an effort at neighborhood revitalization is led by the Public Safety Director. Why isn’t Ballard’s deputy mayor of neighborhoods at the forefront?
What I’m Hearing in the Streets
The past two weeks I’ve done something radical. Interviewed candidates not running for the Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) school board. Even though IPS has 30,000 students, the district educates just 20 percent of Indy’s 153,000 public school students.
On our WTLC-AM (1310) “Afternoons with Amos” program, I interviewed 16 of the 24 men and women running for school board in Washington, Pike, Warren, Lawrence and Wayne Townships. Whether incumbents or challengers, the candidates were united in being strong defenders of public education. Whether white or Black, they all said they were committed to reducing their district’s racial achievement gap and improving teacher diversity.
All the candidates complained about continued funding cuts from Indiana’s Republican controlled legislature. They worry about the property tax caps that are making funding for transportation and building repairs more difficult.
Pike, Washington and Lawrence Townships have African-American board members. Warren and Wayne not yet, though there’s quality Black candidates running.
IPS Stonewall: Speaking of IPS, they continue to stonewall and deny any explanation as to why a North Carolina cop intervened in a September 19th student disciplinary incident at troubled John Marshall HS. There’s NO IPS policy permitting an outsider’s involvement, so I don’t understand IPS leadership’s refusal to answer questions about the bizarre encounter.
IPS also won’t publicly explain why the public, including John Marshall parents, weren’t informed about that Oct. 1 incident where a student was arrested for having a loaded gun at school.
Tip of the Hat: Appreciated Lucas Oil CEO Forrest Lucas’ apology of his wife’s insensitive Facebook post. And was glad he included the Indianapolis Recorder in the papers that received his full page ad/apology. Therefore, I’ll keep an open mind and wait and watch to see if Lucas Oil’s an inclusive company and the types of outreach they do now and in the future in minority communities where they do business.
See’ ya next week!
You can email comments to Amos Brown at ac-brown@aol.com.
