In this world there are two types of people: those who see a problem and complain about it, and those who see a problem and do something about it.
Fortunately, Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett appears to be a person who wants to solve problems. He has shown a strong commitment to solving a growing problem in our city: rising crime.
On Monday, he announced a bold plan to reform the city’s criminal justice system. The plan calls for major changes such as a new criminal justice center and jail, as well as identifying and treating people who suffer from addiction and mental illness instead of automatically putting them in jail.
Marion County’s current jail, which was built in the 1960s, is now overcrowded, with inmates sometimes having to be transported to another county. Under the plan, the jail would be replaced by a new facility with up to 3,000 beds, which would be located at the center along with a new juvenile detention center and traffic court.
However, Hogsett has made it clear that the plan is not just about finding space to lock more people up. The centerpiece of it is a new approach to fighting crime in Indianapolis: Police will work with social workers and paramedics to determine if a person has an addiction or mental illness, sending them to treatment instead of keeping them in jail.
“Let us build a system of justice that measures success in the lives it saves, not in the number of lives it detains,” Hogsett said when he announced the plan, which is based on recommendations from the 120-page Indianapolis Criminal Justice Reform Task Force report.
Those recommendations and Hogsett’s plan offer a fresh way to fight crime in Indianapolis, a way that has long been discussed but never actually tried on a large scale: eliminating the root causes of crime.
According to the Task Force, more than 40 percent of inmates in the downtown jail have a mental disorder of some kind or an addiction. The goal of the mayor’s plan is to help them and low-level, nonviolent offenders get the treatment they need.
This approach will not only reduce crime, but also keep the jail from becoming overcrowded, save taxpayer dollars and reduce the number of people in the judicial system by treating the addictions and disorders that often lead to crime.
Currently, no location has been selected for the new facility and specific ways to fund the plan have not been outlined, other than $35 million a year that could be redirected from existing resources.
So far, most policymakers and stakeholders in the community have welcomed the plan because it goes beyond old tactics that no longer work in reducing crime, such as putting more police on the streets without adjusting their methods, and using mandatory sentencing without any regard to the factors that lead some people into a life of crime.
In the coming months, however, even those who agree on the goals of the plan will debate on details such as funding and how to put it in place. Regardless of how tough that debate may become, we should find common ground and not give up on an opportunity to make Indianapolis a safer community as quickly as possible.
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The Indianapolis Recorder would like to extend our condolences to the family of Genora Anderson Ackles. She made many positive contributions to this community through her involvement with the Recorder Women’s Charities, the American Black Chiropractors Women’s Auxiliary and as a charter member of Good Shepherd Missionary Baptist Church. Our prayers and thoughts are with her husband, former Marion County Coroner Dr. Kenneth Ackles Sr., as well as her children, grandchildren and extended family.
