A six-month crime awareness campaign organized by Stand Together For A Safer Indianapolis will launch July 1. The community engagement effort will include a series of informational videos, articles and graphics and direct engagement with community members.
Stand Together For A Safer Indianapolis, which is a group of organizations brought together by Steward Speakers, created the two-part campaign in response to the rise in homicides and gun violence in the city. There were 103 homicides through May, according to data from Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.
Steward Speakers President Matthew Steward said he doesn’t expect crime to stop as a result of the program. However, he hopes conversations with people who have committed crimes and those who are at risk to do so will help the community come up with solutions to curb violence in the near future.
“We’re not going to solve this overnight,” Steward said. “If we are to get a handle on homicides and gun violence, we need community effort.”
FrontRunner Media, which operates out of the Walker Career Center on the campus of Warren Central High School, will lead the media awareness portion of the campaign. FrontRunner President Gary Naylor said his organization wanted to help because homicides and gun violence can have far-reaching effects on communities.
“It impacts our whole city,” he said.
