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No, United Northwest didn't reach a homicide milestone Wednesday -- but there is good news

Posted at 11:26 AM, Oct 21, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-21 11:26:03-04

INDIANAPOLIS -- Anti-violence activists held a press conference Wednesday touting one year in the United Northwest Neighborhood without a youth homicide. We reported on it. Turns out things are a little more nuanced than that.

If, as IMPD does, you consider a youth homicide to be any victim under the age of 18 (technically IMPD calls them juvenile homicides), then United Northwest hasn't had one in 2016, 2015 or 2014, according to homicide records kept by RTV6 and IMPD's own federal reports, known as Uniform Crime Reports (UCR).

The Ten Point Coalition – which organized Wednesday's press conference – has a different operating definition of a "youth homicide." The group focuses on reducing violence by and to people in their target neighborhoods between the ages of 14-24.  That's also the age range they're referring to when they say youth homicide.

But even by that definition, the last youth homicide actually happened 576 days before the press conference. That victim was 18-year-old Davon Whitlock, who was killed in a quadruple homicide on the 3100 block of North Harding Street on March 24, 2015.

Before that, there hadn't been a victim between the ages of 14-24 killed in United Northwest since June 2014, when 20-year-old Darien Val was killed.

What that all adds up to is that the United Northwest Neighborhood has not, at least over the past several years, had a youth homicide problem to begin with. Also worth noting: Ten Point has operated in the area since the late 1990s.

SEE FOR YOURSELF | 2016 Indianapolis Homicide Map | 2015 Indianapolis Homicide Map

If up until this point you've been quietly wondering exactly what the United Northwest Neighborhood is, well, you've stumbled on another confounding element in the story.

The United Northwest Area (henceforth referred to as UNWA) is the name for three historic neighborhoods bounded by the White River and Meridian Street on the west and east and 38th and 16th streets on the north and south. Those neighborhoods are Riverside to the south, Crown Hill to the north, and the United Northwest in the middle.

The United Northwest Neighborhood runs roughly from the White River to I-65, and from Burdsal Parkway to 38th Street. But the Ten Point Coalition's patrol area in the United Northwest Neighborhood doesn't extend all the way to the White River – they stop at Riverside Drive as their westernmost border.

You can see the extents of Ten Point's patrol areas and UNWA in the maps below:

The boundaries are important because, if Ten Point's patrol area extended all the way to the White River, it would encompass the area where 18-year-old Shane Watford's body was found in May of this year.

The Crown Hill Neighborhood – which Ten Point also patrols and is part of UNWA, but they say they aren't referring to when they reference their United Northwest patrol area – also had a youth homicide victim by the organization's definition on November 7 of last year, when 21-year-old Anthony Dean was fatally shot.

So, why did Ten Point hold its press conference on Wednesday?

For one thing, Rev. Charles Harrison, who leads the group, says he wasn't aware Watford's body was found in the United Northwest Neighborhood. But more importantly, Harrison says the group was really celebrating one year since Ten Point "refocused" its efforts in the three communities it patrols.

"For us it is [a milestone], because we launched our new model last October where we focused all of our resources in three areas," Harrison said. "And we wanted to show that, if you put this model together which is a community-based model, mobilizing resources in the neighborhood and redirecting kids from violence. That it could reduce violence and make neighborhoods safer, healthier and more peaceful."

While it's difficult, if not impossible, to link Ten Point's efforts directly to a drop in homicides, UNWA has seen a significant reduction in the past year. By this point in 2015, 18 people had been killed in UNWA. As of Thursday, that number for 2016 is six.

And UNWA isn't the only positive headline when it comes to violence. Though homicides are on track to finish near last year's record number, juvenile homicides – that's victims under the age of 18 – are down citywide 66 percent year-to-date.

As of Wednesday, only three people under the age of 18 have been killed in Indianapolis this year. On the same date last year, nine people under 18 had been killed.

The Ten Point Coalition also celebrated a real milestone last week, when the Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood marked one year without any homicides. Ten Point and the Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood Association worked to rally the community following four homicides in the span of two months in the neighborhood in 2015.

MORE | Butler-Tarkington marks 365 days without a homicide

Indianapolis police have highlighted Ten Point's work in the past as a boon for the community. The group gives ex-offenders the opportunity to make money while engaging with youth in their communities who they hope to steer away from the path of crime they took. They also help tensions from escalating at homicide scenes by providing support for family and community members.

A group called the "Concerned OGs" modeled after Ten Point formed earlier this year to walk Sherman Drive on the Near Eastside – one of the most violent areas of the city.

MORE | 'Concerned OGs' gaining momentum in Near Eastside neighborhood

Ten Point says it has discussed expanding its efforts to other parts of the city seeing the brunt of the violence, but currently does not have the resources to do so.