Indianapolis officials say that in response to a seven-year trend of increasing homicides they'll continue to boost the size of the city's police force and increase support for neighborhood anti-crime efforts.
Mayor Joe Hogsett said Monday that the city's homicide rate is heartbreaking and unacceptable. Police say the city has seen 148 criminal homicides for the year through the weekend, just below the record 149 such killings during 2016.
Hogsett says he aims to add about 150 police officers by the end of 2019 and have more officers assigned to smaller neighborhood beats to better know residents and their crime troubles. He said the city will add five staffers who'll focus on violence-reduction programs and make $300,000 a year available for neighborhood-level programs.