Up to 40 percent of Marion County's inmates are deemed mentally ill.
Indianapolis' mayor is proposing a slate of criminal-justice changes aimed at steering mentally ill and drug-addicted suspects into treatment instead of jail.
Mayor Joe Hogsett's wide-ranging plan includes an assessment center that would be built near a new jail. Officers would be able to send nonviolent, mentally ill and drug-addicted suspects to the center rather than arresting them so they'd get short-term treatment or detox and get referrals for long-term services.
Hogsett's plan also would train all 1,650 of the city's police officers and its 911 operators in crisis intervention and the ability to assess a person's possible mental health issues.