Indianapolis appears to set another record for criminal homicides

The fatal shooting of a man on the east side early Monday appears to mark Indianapolis' 150th criminal homicide of the year, which would surpass 2016's record-setting total of 149 and make this the city's third consecutive year of such record violence. 

"Look, it's heartbreaking," Mayor Joe Hogsett said Monday. "At the same time, it's maddening."

Hogsett made the comments after announcing that the city had reached a $4.2 million deal toward land for a new criminal justice center, which he said will include "holistic criminal justice reform efforts" that will reduce crime in the long run. The mayor about a year ago announced sweeping efforts to overhaul the city's criminal justice system.

Officers found Monday's victim, later identified as 25-year-old Walter Benyon, about 12:30 a.m. in an apartment in the 5300 block of Butler Terrace. The Marion County coroner's office said Monday afternoon that Benyon died of multiple gunshot wounds and ruled his death a homicide. 

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Chief Bryan Roach, at a swearing-in ceremony for the department's latest class of recruits Monday afternoon, called the new record “tragic, disturbing, not reflective of our city.”

He said the department's renewed focus on beat policing will strengthen the relationship between its officers and the community it serves.

“We definitely miss the community part of policing,” he said, noting the relationship between IMPD and community crime prevention organizations such as the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition could be stronger. “I don’t think we do a very good job of taking what it is they do and giving them the information they need and the information that we have so that it is more targeted and impactful.”

The Rev. Charles Harrison, leader of the Ten Point Coalition, told IndyStar that the city needs to better address the social issues contributing to the rise in violent crime.  

"I am sad that for the third year in a row Indy has broken a criminal homicide record," Harrison said. "We cannot as a city fix this problem unless we address the root causes of the violence like poverty, drug trafficking, joblessness, poor education, hopelessness and broken homes."

Criminal homicides in Indianapolis have been on the rise every year since 2012, reaching new heights in 2015, with 144 criminal homicides recorded, and again in 2016. With 150 criminal homicides, 2017 would mark a third consecutive year of record highs. 

Deaths that occurred earlier in the year can be reclassified after further investigation. Such was the case earlier this month when a killing was ruled an act of self-defense.

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The new record comes at the end of the city's second year under the leadership of Mayor Hogsett, a former federal prosecutor who campaigned heavily on reducing the city's violent crime.

On Dec. 11, Hogsett outlined three key initiatives to tackle the problem of rising violent crime. 

>Continue to ramp up police staffing and a return to foot patrols on narrow beats. 

>Strengthen partnerships with other law enforcement agencies to decrease gun crimes, including guns illegally possessed by felons. 

>Bolster neighborhood partnerships by creating new positions in the administration to better coordinate and foster street-level outreach. 

Roach described the three tenets of his policing philosophy when he was promoted to the position in January: Officers should be proactive about building trusting relationships; officers must treat people as people, no matter the circumstance; and simple solutions to complex problems can be found through collaboration.

Data released earlier this year by the FBI showed a 7 percent increase in the number of violent crimes committed in Indianapolis last year, outpacing the rest of the state and country. Violent crime grew across the state by 4.6 percent and across the country by 4.1 percent, according to the data.

Criminal investigations and prosecutions this year have often stalled, in part due to a reluctance by witnesses to cooperate with police. 

In October, an IndyStar investigation revealed a lack of funding for witness protection efforts in Indianapolis relative to other cities, a factor which some say emboldens criminals and contributes to Indianapolis' steady rise in violent crime and unsolved homicides. 

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The arrest rate in Indianapolis criminal homicides is around 40 percent, according to an IndyStar analysis. 

In the wake of the IndyStar investigation, Hogsett said he was able to identify up to $300,000 to fund witness protection efforts and charged public safety leaders with creating a programming proposal. 

A subsequent IndyStar investigation published earlier this month further underscored the problem by showing how one notorious criminal suspect was connected to Indianapolis’ brutal violence. 

Heightened efforts to combat the city's violent crime problem also have come from the Ten Point Coalition. The nonprofit organization is teaming with the Far East Side Coalition to expand their crime prevention efforts to the 42nd and Post Road corridor in 2018.

The expansion was made possible by funding from the state attorney general's office, which is interested in expanding the Ten Point model across the state as well as in Indianapolis.

Harrison, the leader of the Ten Point Coalition, called on the mayor's office and city leaders to invest $5 million more in grass-roots groups like his that seek to reduce violence in the neighborhoods that are hardest hit.

He also called for an end to partisan bickering that he said has hindered the efforts to reduce crime.

"We must put aside politics and personal animosities that has divided the community from working together for the good of our city," Harrison said. "It is going to take all of Indianapolis working together as a team in 2018 to significantly reverse these criminal homicide numbers."

Some media have been reporting that last year saw 150 criminal homicides, but IndyStar discovered a discrepancy in the city's official count. 

One body found in 2016 was ruled to be a criminal homicide in 2017. IndyStar includes that death in 2017, while IMPD counted the death in 2016 and apparently again in 2017.

IndyStar reporter Fatima Hussein contributed to this article.