INDIANAPOLIS — There was a woman shot nine blocks north of Monument Circle on Meridian Street overnight, 12 blocks away from where an IMPD officer shot at a man popping off gunfire in the bar district nine days ago.
Four times in the last month, downtown officers have responded to persons shot from the Canal to the Julia M. Carson Transit Center.
Yet IMPD reports that overall downtown crime is down 5.5% compared to the same time last year while violent crime in the heart of the Circle City is off 15.3%.
Statistically, that is good news for the thousands of visitors to the Mile Square this month either attending conventions from out-of-state or arriving to watch America’s best swimmers qualify for the Olympics at Lucas Oil Stadium.
”We’ve been to a lot of convention cities over the last 20 years and this is far and away the safest we have felt in any of our convention cities,” said Michael Wright of Jackson, Mississippi, who had just finished eating lunch at Spark On The Circle with friends. ”We’ve been impressed with anybody we have talked to. They have been very nice, very open with their time. Very place we’ve gone to, the coffee shop, the sandwich shop, we’ve been very impressed with the hospitality of the employees.”
Rozelle Crawford often drinks coffee on Monument Circle but keeps to himself.
”What I do to keep safe is distance myself from trouble. I feel very protective,” he said. ”But when people act up you gotta protect yourself the best you can.”
While incidents such as a late March late-night teenage shooting spree at Maryland and Illinois streets garner the most headlines, the overwhelming experience of downtown visitors is the joy of attending large concerts and parades in the last month, cheering on the Fever debut of Catlin Clark or the Pacers playoff run or spending a three-day weekend in anticipation of the Indianapolis 500 Mile Race.
But for those without cash or a home, a job or family or solid plans for entertainment and diversion, downtown Indianapolis can be a more threatening and uncertain place.
“Is downtown Indianapolis a safe place?” I asked David Rader, who said he has wandered the Mile Square for seven years looking for a meal or a bed wherever he could.
“It can be,” he said. “You just have to make it what it is. I kind of make myself identified to the surroundings before I get there.”
We were standing on East Washington Street in front of the City-County Building across from IndyGo’s main downtown transit hub where off-duty police officers patrol to keep the peace.
”If you frequent places or have to get around by public transportation a lot of times,” said Rader, “It is easier to find out where so-and-so may be at or something that is not going to be as good and that is driven by addiction.”
A man who told me his name was Jay overheard our conversation and said he also wanted to be heard.
“What do you got going on downtown?” I asked.
”Out of prison, registered sex offender, I suffer from mental health. Substance abuse issues,” he said. “Everything makes it difficult. There’s just no safe place to go.”
The southeast corner of downtown, according to a map found online at the Marion County Sheriff’s Office’s Sex Offender Registry, is home to 187 registered sex offenders scattered between shelters, a motel and apartment buildings.
”Since I’m a registered sex offender there’s no place to go,” said Jay, assuring me his offense was not against a child. ”I have to be outside. It gets dark out. There’s nowhere to go. The police are busy with active shootings here and there. It's not safe to go and nobody cares.”
Police reports indicate often it is persons without shelter who assault each other, late-night bar patrons who fire shots at one another and teenagers involved in social media beefs who attack their enemies on downtown streets on Saturday nights.
Less common, though not infrequent, are crimes against other downtown residents, visitors or workers.
”Sometimes people got incidents but they got incidents all over the world, all over town,” said Crawford. “There’s incidents everywhere.”
”I don’t think people should be afraid to come to downtown Indianapolis because I’ve been here my whole life and I’ve not had anything happen to me,” said Jay, back on the streets last Thursday after his most recent six-month prison stint. ”What I would say to those people coming down to visit is don’t put everybody in the same basket when just because the way a person looks or whatever doesn’t mean you should feel unsafe. But always keep a mindful eye out.”