Much Of Fishers Crime Is Coming From Marion County
- Significant portion of Fishers crime attributed to Marion County residents with criminal histories.
- Need for collaboration between law enforcement agencies and prosecutors to address crime issue.
- Importance of addressing root causes and having nuanced discussion on judicial system's role.
Much Of Fishers Crime Is Coming From Marion County
Can a regional approach to addressing crime issues be the key to keeping communities safe? In a recent discussion, the Mayor of Fishers, Indiana, Scott Fadness, joined Tony Katz to talk about the growing concern of crime issues in Marion County and how they’re affecting neighboring cities like Fishers. A regional crime summit, held at the Gainbridge Field House, brought together mayors and police chiefs from the surrounding areas to discuss the issue.
According to Fadness, a significant portion of the crime in Fishers can be attributed to individuals from Marion County, many of whom have a lengthy criminal history. “One of the things that we came across a number of years ago is just the number of individuals who have a violent criminal history we come across that are illegally carrying firearms,” he said. “We saw a significant increase in that and that’s really where we rolled up our sleeves and said we need to lock arms with IMPD and erase that border and really start working together collectively.”
Fadness emphasized the importance of collaboration between law enforcement agencies, stating, “I think the Violent Crimes Task Force unit that Indianapolis has… the Crime Gun Intelligence Center that we have, they’re doing the hard, dangerous work of finding these trigger pullers, so that piece of the accountability equation I think is there.” However, he expressed frustration with the prosecutor’s office, saying, “I think the prosecutor’s office had, frankly, downstream and there were frustrations I think at the law enforcement level about the level of aggressiveness that the prosecutor’s office had.”
The discussion also touched on the need for a more productive conversation about what happens to individuals after they’re arrested and released from jail. Fadness stated, “I think the breakdown has been, we’ve never had to sit down to my knowledge, where prosecutors, police chiefs, and mayors are all coming together to have a conversation about, well, what happens to these individuals after we drop them off at the jail?” He expressed optimism that the second meeting would be a more productive discussion, where they could address the judicial system and the role of judges in passing sentences.
Fadness also highlighted the importance of addressing the root causes of crime, saying, “I think it’s possible that there is a politics at play here that’s leading to a lack of either prosecutions or a movement from judges because you’re not leaving them out of the mix.” He emphasized the need for a more nuanced conversation about the issue, stating, “I think that’s a big conversation to be had here in Indiana.”
The discussion with Fadness sheds light on the complexities of addressing crime issues in a regional context. To hear more about the conversation and the potential solutions, listen to the full “Much Of Fishers Crime Is Coming From Marion County” segment here and join the discussion about how communities can work together to keep their citizens safe.
