Chicago leaders turn to Indianapolis for help curbing violence
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – As the city of Chicago keeps pace for another record-breaking year for murders, Chicago anti-violence groups have turned to leaders in Indianapolis for help.
Officials with the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition told News 8 they started receiving calls about a month ago from south Chicago churches asking them to come help form a branch of the Ten Point Coalition in the city.
After the city recorded 74 shootings the first weekend in August, even more calls came in to Indy Ten Point, asking for help.
“We just haven’t seen the magnitude of violence anywhere in the country like what’s going on in Chicago,” said Rev. Charles Harrison with the Indianapolis Ten Point Coalition.
Harrison said leaders at two ministerial churches on Chicago’s south side had seen the positive impact the coalition made on Indianapolis and wanted to learn more, in an effort to curb violence there.
“As we go to Chicago, we are going to talk about the variety of ways they can begin to address the violence by building relationships with the community and building the trust,” said Harrison. “That way you can have those real tough conversations about a different way of life other than crime and violence.”
Another focus of the meeting between Harrison’s group and the church leaders will be teaching people in Chicago how to fight crime by reaching out to troubled youth, eliminating hunger and using nightly patrols.
Harrison said one major resource will be crucial in turning things around for Chicago: “By using OGs (original gangsters). That’s going to be key in Chicago, is using OGs from the neighborhood who have turned their life around to speak to the young people who are now still in the game.”
As Chicago’s murder numbers climb past the 300 mark this year, Harrison said it is time to lend a helping hand before things get worse.
“It’s certainly going to take a lot of different strategies and approaches to address that issue in Chicago,” said Harrison. “But, for us to be called and viewed as one strategy, it’s certainly an honor.”
Harrison said his group will go to Chicago within the next month.
Chicago is not the only Illinois city that has reached out for guidance from Indy Ten Point. He said the city of Peoria has also reached out to find out how to start its own Ten Point Coalition.
