INDIANAPOLIS — At the city-county council meeting Monday, Mayor Joe Hogsett said public safety has been one of the highest priorities over the last eight years and will remain so for the 2025 proposed city budget.

Totaling $1.6 billion, public safety initiatives account for 41% of the allocated expenses of the 2025 proposed budget at $637 million. Hogsett said that 2022-2023 saw a 32% decrease in criminal homicides.

“And the number continues to trend downward in 2024,” Hogsett said. “Effective today, we are down another 8.2% from this very same day one year ago.”

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Indianapolis police and firefighters

The budget includes money for 1,743 officers, a goal that the department has tried to but failed to reach since 2019. To meet that goal, the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department will add a third new recruit class.

There will be a continued investment in technology for the department’s license plate readers, public safety cameras, dash cameras, and body-worn cameras.

Funding would also go toward purchasing a new mobile traffic safety command center, new car printers and scanners for one-third of the department’s patrol officers, and investments in IMPD’s non-sworn personnel to fill professional and technical positions, shifting seven officers back to police work.

Indianapolis Fire Department would get $258 million — about $3 million more than last year— to maintain its 10-year fleet replacement program, fund a new arson unit and build new fire stations. This includes a budget for a recruit class in January 2025.

Violence prevention in Indianapolis

Hogsett said the plan will continue to fund 24/7 staff for its clinician-led community response teams in both downtown and the east IMPD district to divert people in a mental health crisis from the criminal justice system. Other proposed funding includes:

• Investing in community programs to help reduce homelessness, treat addictions, and address mental health challenges.
• Funding a master leasing program for 42 additional units for unhoused individuals and families as part of the 200-unit project created by the Mayor’s Office housing initiative.
• Violence reduction and intervention initiatives managed by the Office of Public Health and Safety, including the Witness Protection program, and the Group Violence Intervention program.
• $250,000 continued funding for the Tenant Legal Assistance Project and the Eviction Avoidance Project with Indiana Legal Services.
• Increased funding for community mental health centers operating in Marion County.

Criminal justice initiatives

Hogsett’s budget also allocates $313 million toward criminal justice expenses including:

• Funding for Forensics Services Agency to outsource a subset of cases, allowing them to reduce processing time on firearm and sexual assault cases.
• Funding to support recruitment and retention programs in the Marion County Sheriff’s Office.
• Additional investment in technology to improve communication and jail maintenance in the Adult Detention Center.
• Funding the debt payments associated with the soon-to-be-opened Forensics and Coroner facilities, as well as the Youth and Family Services Center, all of which will replace outdated and inefficient buildings.

Infrastructure and community investment

The budget allocates nearly $200 million for roads, bridges, and other greenway improvements across Indianapolis neighborhoods in 2025 with more than 30% of funding across the 5-year capital plan to improve pedestrian and cyclist safety.

• $68.4 million for stormwater system improvements across neighborhoods in 2025.
• Additional personnel dedicated to trail maintenance as a result of the historic $50 million investment through the Circle City Forward initiative and Lily Foundation grant.
• $7 million in grant funding for the Department of Parks and Recreation to build an archery range at Riverside Adventure Park and additional funding for park beautification.
• Increased local funding for animal care supplies to reduce reliance on donors and investment in professional kennel cleaning to free up staff to focus on animal care.
• Technological investment to improve the Mayor’s Action Center request portal for increased transparency between citizens reporting concerns and the City’s progress toward alleviating them.

Funding would also support the creation of a safety ambassador position for parks. The goal is to begin developing a program dedicated to the enhanced public safety in parks.

It would fund a position in the Department of Public Works to begin developing a program dedicated to enhanced public safety in parks and implementation of the Vision 0 plan to help eliminate all serious injuries and deaths from traffic crashes.

Public safety and criminal justice committee

City-county council committees are reviewing the budget before it’s voted on this fall, and the Public Safety and Criminal Justice Committee met Wednesday, Aug. 14 for its first round of discussions on the Marion County Coroner’s Office, Indianapolis-Marion County Forensic Services Agency and the Office of Public Health and Safety.

They will vote on the budget at a later date with the final budget vote happening later this fall.

Jade Jackson is a Public Safety Reporter for the Indianapolis Star. You can email her at Jade.Jackson@IndyStar.com and follow her on X, formally Twitter @IAMJADEJACKSON.