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Indianapolis police are getting help with homicides — from outside experts

Ryan Martin
IndyStar
IMPD Chief Bryan Roach speaks during a "Call to Action" press conference on Tuesday, Jan. 31, in response to the killing of 14-year-old Anthony Lee Hughes, Jr.

Indianapolis Metropolitan Police command staff have asked outside experts to help with the growing number of unsolved homicide cases, a problem that has nagged Indianapolis and other major cities in recent years.

A full assessment of how the department investigates and responds to homicides is planned. Every step — dispatching an initial call, collecting DNA, talking to eyewitnesses and more — will be up for review. 

"We have some numbers that are disappointing to us," said Chris Bailey, IMPD's deputy chief of investigations. "The only way to get better is to recognize that you don't have all the answers." 

Those disappointing numbers have been well-documented. Annual criminal homicides have been on the rise for several years, reaching record totals in 2015, 2016 and 2017, which ended with 154 killings. As the homicides surged to new highs, the percentage of solved cases declined to new lows. 

The challenge is not unique to Indianapolis. The numbers of homicides are surging in major cities across the country, and research shows that national clearance rates dropped to a historic low in 2016, according to a report from the Murder Accountability Project, a nonprofit studying homicides.

About 40 percent of IMPD's cases last year have been solved, IndyStar research shows. In contrast, IMPD solved about 70 percent of cases in 2012 and 2013. 

The growing homicides and declining solve rates qualified Indianapolis for the review from experts affiliated with the Police Executive Research Forum, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank.

The group will begin conducting interviews Feb. 20 with officers and other authorities involved in homicide investigations, such as crime lab officials and deputy prosecutors, Bailey said. 

The interviewers mostly will gather information on how the process works now. They will return for another visit, too. 

Later this year IMPD will receive a report that could answer any number of questions hampering homicide investigations. Is training appropriate? Are there gaps in department policy? Could evidence be handled better? Are there enough detectives to shoulder the caseload? 

Indianapolis will be the first of six cities to receive the help starting this year, which is being funded by the Department of Justice

The program previously aided police in Baltimore, Cleveland, Pittsburgh and Miami during a different funding cycle, said Chuck Wexler, executive director of Police Executive Research Forum.

"To be engaged with a city, the city has to want us to do it," Wexler said. "Indianapolis really asked us for help."  

Results of the program are unclear. Wexler could not cite whether homicides declined or clearance rates improved in those cities following the reviews. His staff declined to share copies of the final reports with IndyStar. 

Anecdotally, Wexler said, police departments have made adjustments during the reviews.

IMPD Deputy Chief Chris Bailey, then serving as North District commander, speaks during a press conference at Mount Zion Baptist Church, Sunday, November 6, 2016.

Seeking the outside review is just one of the moves to address Indianapolis' homicide problem since Bryan Roach became police chief in January 2017 and Bailey became investigations chief last August. 

They recently invited retired homicide investigators back to the department to speak with detectives. 

They have added five investigators to the homicide unit, which now totals 30 detectives. Another detective will join the unit this spring.

They are strengthening IMPD's partnership with federal law enforcement to target criminals who illegally carry guns in the city. 

And Roach advocated for the creation of a local witness assistance and protection program. One of investigators' biggest hurdles is a lack of eyewitness testimony, and the program is expected to help those who are afraid of retaliation if they speak to police. The Indianapolis City-County Council approved the creation of a $300,000 program this year. 

IMPD sees the outside review as one more proactive way to address the violence hitting Indianapolis. 

"This is about being able to do our job better so we can provide a better service to our citizens and provide justice to the victims of these terrible violent crimes," Bailey said. 

Call IndyStar reporter Ryan Martin at (317) 444-6294. Follow him on Facebook and on Twitter: @ryanmartin

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