As the weather gets a little nicer here in Indianapolis, we all know what is going to happen: The streets are going to get a little meaner. That means more people are going to be shot, and we are going to have more victims of criminal homicides.
So far this year, as of March 13, the city has seen 20 murders, and the statistics surrounding the murders are showing the beginning of a familiar trend. Half of the murder victims had adult criminal histories; 75 percent of the suspects did. Ten of the murder victims had a total of 37 felonies, while three of the murder suspects had 11 felonies. And just to put a little chocolate icing on the cake, 14 of the 20 criminal homicide victims were Black; that’s 70 percent for those of you keeping tabs at home. And remember, Blacks only make up about 27 percent of the city’s population.
But I did not come here to reiterate my theme of the self-cleaning oven (when bad guy kills bad guy) or “homeycides,” as one colleague of mine put it (that’s when bad Black guy kills another bad Black guy). No, I came today to share with you my theory about why crime is so prevalent in some parts of the city.
I know, I know. There’re always the usual culprits: poverty, racism, lack of jobs, lack of education, lack of hope and lack of opportunity. Blah! Blah! Blah! We’ve heard all this before. What no one really wants to talk about is part of the reason crime is so bad in those communities: a dislike, distrust and, let’s be honest, sometimes a downright hatred of law enforcement. Don’t look at me like that. Odds are, you don’t live there either, and if you do, you’re trying to figure out a way to get out.
Let’s be honest: There’s a reason a lot of Black murders go unsolved. It’s because the people in those neighborhoods and communities don’t want to cooperate with the police in helping get rid of the crime in the first place. When Amanda Blackburn was murdered last November, her community stepped up to cooperate. Neighbors turned in home security camera footage, people called in tips to police and everyone cooperated. When 10-year-old DeShaun Swanson lost his life due to violence, nobody saw anything.
When Malik Perry, Marshawn Frazier and Clarence Havvard were all killed in the same 30-day window in Butler-Tarkington, nobody saw anything. That’s just to name a few. Folks complain because the white homicide clearance rate is about 80 percent with the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, while the Black murder clearance rate is 50 percent on a good day. Well, no offense people, but guess what? When you don’t cooperate with law enforcement to stop the bad guys, the bad guys tend to get away. Call me crazy.
Now, why won’t people cooperate with law enforcement? Your guess is as good as mine. Some will say police need to do a better job of community engagement. The community needs to do a better job of self-policing and weeding out the bad element. I will never understand the “snitches get stitches” mentality. In other words, reporting to law enforcement means retaliation. Pick your reason or excuse; none of these bode well. I fully appreciate the mistrust between the police and community in other cities like Baltimore and Ferguson, Missouri, but let’s be clear: Indianapolis is not those places.
And let me make another thing clear: Indianapolis is on the path to another record-breaking murder year if folks don’t have a come to Jesus/Allah/Buddha meeting real quick. You get the policing you deserve. Remember that later this summer.
Abdul-Hakim Shabazz is an attorney, political commentator and publisher of IndyPolitics.org. You can email comments to him at abdul@indypolitics.org.
