Near a memorial constructed with teddy bears, balloons and toys, a wooden board covered the area where over 20 bullets tore into an east side home, killing 1-year-old Malaysia Robson while she slept on the couch. Touting signs and chanting about the need for peace, over 100 people marched to the home to pay their respects to Robson and to demand an end to gun violence in Indianapolis.
For many who gathered, the issue was personal — individuals shared stories of friends and family who lost their lives to homicide. Damita Boochee spoke of her 20-year-old son Amond, who was shot and killed in March in downtown Indianapolis. She said she was compelled to support Malaysia’s family because she relates to the grief they felt.
Damita Boochee holds a sign in memory of her son, Amond Boochee, who was killed in early March.
“You walk in the house, you don’t see them, you just have memories. You still expect for them to walk in,” said Boochee. “My child died the same way, with gun violence. It’s hard. Marching is good, but we have to do something further than just marching.”
More than marching
According to a study conducted by the Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington, homicide is the largest contributor to potential years of life lost among Black Americans. Indianapolis resident Ashley Gurvitz was present at the march for Malaysia, but says in order to see lasting change the community needs to take a proactive approach.
“I believe that the primary way for issues to stop leading to homicide is to assure there are more resources and attention given to addressing the social determinates, be it crime that is happening because of being hungry, or whether it’s through education,” said Gurvitz. “All of that has to be addressed proactively and now, rather than showing up and raising attention afterwards.”
In December 2017, Mayor Joe Hogsett announced a city-wide violence reduction strategy to crackdown on illegally armed felons and to invest in neighborhood and community based anti-crime efforts.
Despite these efforts, 36 homicides have taken place by April 2, compared to 28 homicides last year by the same date.
IMPD Sgt. Kendale Adams says law enforcement is working with community groups to address systemic issues that lead to crime, but a lack of eyewitness accounts make it difficult to put criminals behind bars. Even when IMPD has ideas regarding who the suspects of a crime might be, finding individuals willing to talk remains challenging.
“What we are finding is that we are shooting information out, saying ‘Hey, help this person,’ but no one in the community can help,” said Adams. “Twenty years ago, it was more ‘I may not talk to the police, but I will talk to my pastor and tell him what I saw.’ (and the pastor might share with IMPD). We don’t even have that anymore. We have a breakdown of the total system where there is no trust at all. When I say systems, I am talking about the government, religious and education systems. No one can trust anyone enough to say what’s going on.”
(Compiled by Keshia McEntire)
Fixing the system
A number of community members are working to combat systemic issues that contribute to violent crime.One such individual is Anthony Beverly, who founded Stop The Violence Indianapolis.Beverly grew up in Indianapolis and moved away. After moving back to Indy, he noticed an increase in violence that he didn’t experience in his younger years.
“I came home 12 years ago and started doing outreach events with my church. That’s when God gave me this vision for Stop The Violence Indianapolis. I saw the need a lot of these families have in these high-crime areas, so my mission is to be a catalyst for social change by empowering people to overcome poverty and crime. There are programs that we run based on what the need is in these areas.”
Through Stop The Violence Indianapolis,Beverly hosts family workshops to teach parents how to set ground rules for their children, and youth development workshops such as a summer camp program for young girls that teaches positive self-image. He also mentors youth who have been involved in gang activity.
“We really have to get on the front end. Many of the things we see are because of broken families, we to need work with families so they understand their role,” said Beverly. “I know many parents are doing the best that they can with what they have got, but we still have to make sound decisions with morals in place.”
Former IMPD Deputy Chief Bill Benjamin agrees. Benjamin worked with IMPD for over 27 years, leading a three-year record for reducing violent crime. In addition to supporting youth, he feels that supporting the mentally ill is key to building better communities.
“The sheriff’s office and the police department, the only tools they had out in the field was to arrest them for public intoxication. That’s why they end up in jail, and they really shouldn’t be in jail,” said Benjamin. “There is a pilot program going on right now called MCAT (Mobile Crisis Assistance Teams), where a psychiatrist, an officer, a medic and a social worker are riding around in a van. They handle that person in lieu of arresting them, and we need that all over the county because it’s successful.”
Adams would like to see more collaborative efforts between community groups working to combat violence.
“You have Ten Point, you have people who don’t like Ten Point, you have Dee Ross (of The Ross Foundation), and we have to work with all of these groups. Let us figure out a way where we can all work in the same space, because we all want to reduce violence,” said Adams. “This issue is bigger than law enforcement. This is a societal issue that comes back to education, parenting, food deserts, religious systems. What we are seeing is the byproduct of broken systems. This didn’t just happen, it is a systematic failure, and we are dealing with the repercussions of that.”
Contact reporter Keshia McEntire at 317-762-7853. Follow her on Twitter @Keshiamc12.
Rev. Charles Harrison, Ten Point Coalition leader, holds his fist in support of the hundreds that participated in Let’s March for Malaysia. (Photo/Curtis Guynn)
