A new criminal justice complex, which will serve as a cornerstone of Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett’s strategy to reform the city’s approach to crime, will fill the vacancy that was left on the southeast side when the Citizens Energy coke plant closed in 2007.
Hogsett announced the location Tuesday, explaining the criteria taken into consideration while choosing from among a dozen possible sites: a central location, enough space to encompass the scope of the project and support from the surrounding community.
The complex will sit in the Twin Aire neighborhood, a 1950s-era residential and commercial district bordered by Washington Street to the north, English Avenue to the south, Southeastern Avenue to the west and Sherman Drive to the east.
Hogsett said he hopes the addition of the new structure to the neighborhood will help restore it to some of its former glory.
“What we build here will change more than lives; it will change the very life and the very history of this part of our community,” Hogsett said. “I’ve said many times that we must leverage the success of our thriving downtown into our neighborhoods. The facilities that will be constructed here will do just that. As they restore lives, they will also help revitalize struggling neighborhoods.”
Amber Broughton, chair of Twin Aire Neighborhood Coalition, said she and her colleagues have had an open dialogue with the mayor about the project, and she is eager to see if the new center will usher in other changes in the area, such as road and infrastructure improvements and new businesses.
“We look forward to the justice center being a nice complement to the improved Twin Aire that we envision,” Broughton said at a news conference announcing the center’s site.
City-County Councilor Leroy Robinson expressed his support of the complex but stressed its limits.
“Most importantly, this is just a physical structure, nothing more, nothing less,” he said. “Real criminal justice reform takes place when we begin to make the systemic changes necessary to reform our system, when we begin to change the face of crime, address the root causes of crime.”
Robinson called for efforts to eradicate food deserts, expand job training programs, improve schools, upgrade parks, provide mental health care and more. In Twin Aire, where — according to an IUPUI School of Social Work study — a diverse group of a couple thousand people deal with lower-than-average graduation rates and median incomes, residents are looking forward to the changes the project might bring.
“We’re standing in a neighborhood that’s been waiting for a day like this for a very long time,” said City-County Councilor Blake Johnson, who represents District 12, which encompasses the Twin Aire neighborhood. “(Since the Citizens coke plant closed), they saw jobs evaporate, watched houses become vacant and many of them felt their city had forgotten about them.”
The plan outlined by the mayor’s Criminal Justice Reform Task Force says the complex is expected to include an Assessment and Intervention Center where arrestees are assessed for treatment needs; a 2,600- to 3,000-bed jail to replace current facilities; a consolidated courthouse for both criminal and civil cases; and more.
Other parts of the so-called “Indianapolis Model” outlined in the Task Force’s plans include tactics to be used at the pre-arrest, post-arrest and pre-trial stages, such as enhanced crisis intervention training for all officers and 911 dispatchers, and the creation of mobile crisis units of officers and health professionals.
The plan also calls for better tracking of data and continual analysis, plus enhanced transparency for the public.
To read the full 120-page report from the Indianapolis Criminal Justice Reform Task Force, visit criminaljusticereform.indy.gov.
