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Gov. Mike Braun on Wednesday doubled down on a threat of state intervention in Indianapolis if Mayor Joe Hogsett and Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears don’t make impactful changes to the city-county’s justice system in response to recent youth violence in downtown.
“This is just the clarion call to do something different,” Braun said of the violence and local officials’ responsibility. “This is your jurisdiction.”
He said the city’s “dereliction of responsibility and duty” could force the state to intervene, though he would not specify what that intervention would be.
The Republican governor’s statements came on the heels of a string of shootings involving youth in the city’s core, including one on July 5 that killed two minors, and just before Indianapolis hosts WNBA All-Star Weekend.
Indiana State Police will be deployed for the weekend at a level that Braun spokeswoman Molly Craft said is “above and beyond normal ISP activity.” It is not unusual, however, for state police to contribute patrols during large events in the state’s capital city.
Still, Braun used the ISP’s work in downtown Indianapolis, at IMPD’s request, to argue that Indianapolis officials—and specifically those the Prosecutor’s Office—are “not doing the job.”
“I think the prosecutor has not taken up cases that the police bring to them,” Braun said.
Braun did not name Mears, a Democrat in his second term as prosecutor, but used his title. When asked specifically where he sees a lack of strict enforcement, Braun told a reporter he was “not going to go into details of that.”
Michael Leffler, a spokesman for the Marion County Prosecutor’s Office, said in a statement that the agency is committed to “actively prosecuting violent crime.”
He said just this week Marion County judges had sentenced five people to “significant sentences” in murder cases, while prosecutors filed five additional murder charges and charged seven other people who were downtown during the Fourth of July weekend. In all, he said, 11 people have been charged in connection with that shooting, which also left five people injured.
“Prosecutors and our law enforcement partners in Marion County will continue to focus on our community—not on politics,” Leffler said.
In response to Braun’s critiques, Hogsett said in a statement that his administration is “laser focused on ensuring that those who enjoy our downtown this weekend, next weekend and in the future are safe.” The administration is also adding tools to support law enforcement in the effort, he said.
For example, the Indianapolis City-County Council is considering a proposal for a stricter curfew. Police, in coordination with the city’s Office of Public Health and Safety, also announced on Wednesday that the department would escort juveniles breaking the curfew to a “safe and secure” space where they could be unified with parents or guardians. City leaders have said a proposal is in the works that would restrict late-night food trucks and street vendors.
Hogsett also pointed to the city’s declining number of criminal homicides and non-fatal shootings. The city had a record-high of 271 criminal homicides in 2021, but the numbers have declined since.
“Our gun violence reduction strategy is saving lives,” Hogsett said in the statement.
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