INDIANAPOLIS — Halfway into the year, Indianapolis hit a grim milestone.
The city marked its 100th homicide after a man died in an early-morning shooting June 27 on South Meridian Street.
In some aspects, crime has risen in Indianapolis as 2024 reaches the midway point. Other areas have markedly decreased since peaking in 2021.
Here’s the breakdown from data as of June 24, the latest available numbers:
How many homicides have there been?
When it comes to the gravest of crimes, Indianapolis has seen 78 people killed so far this year.
It's a 17% decline from the same time in 2023. At this point last year, 94 people had died in criminal homicides.
Homicides deemed criminal do not include killings investigators determined were self-defense or accidental. When factoring in those killings, the number reaches 101.
The city ended 2023 with 174 criminal homicides.
How many shootings have there been?
The number of people who have been shot and survived in the city totals 268, which is a 12.4% decrease from last year. At this point in 2023, 306 people had been injured in shootings.
For both years, the average number of people shot per day in Indianapolis is more than one.
How else is crime declining?
Crime has declined in several other categories.
Overall violent crime is down 28%. In a further breakdown, aggravated assaults have reduced by 34%, recording 1,811 this year compared with 2,742 last year.
Robberies are down 19.1%.
Where is crime rising in Indianapolis?
One category has seen a sharp increase in data provided by Indianapolis Metropolitan Police.
Auto thefts continue to rise in the city, almost exclusively due to robberies of Kias and Hyundais. The stat follows a national trend, which started in 2021 as videos circulated on social media showing how people can peel the steering column off the cars and use a USB cable to start them.
Last year, Indianapolis joined other U.S. cities in a lawsuit against the automakers, saying they have not done enough to prevent the thefts from occurring. The suit remains pending in federal court.
How many homicides have had an arrest?
The percentage of homicide arrests made by Indianapolis police is rising, reaching a 72% solving rate.
Among the 78 criminal homicides recorded this year, 31 have led to an arrest. Adding to this year's clearance rate, police have made numerous arrests from killings that occurred in years prior.
This is a sharp increase from prior years when roughly half of the city’s homicide cases would go unsolved by the end of the year.
More coverage:65% of Indianapolis killings unsolved in 2022. 'It's like a waiting list' for justice.
How did Indianapolis police increase their arrests?
Kendale Adams, Indianapolis’ deputy chief of investigations, credits the rising rate to several factors.
First, the agency has focused on beefing up its homicide unit, and assigning more detectives so their caseload more closely matches the widely adhered policy for detectives to juggle four or six homicides per year.
Adams also attributed the rise to increased cooperation from the community and new policing technology. The department invested millions of dollars of federal funding into license plate readers and public safety cameras posted throughout the city. Police officials credited the technology for an arrest in the killing of a Dutch soldier downtown in 2022.
Contact IndyStar reporter Sarah Nelson at sarah.nelson@indystar.com
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