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Mars Hill residents: "Get the drugs out of here"

Posted at 11:46 PM, Mar 26, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-26 23:46:34-04

INDIANAPOLIS — "We don't want somebody to come in and shoot us and kill us for, you know for anything. We don't have no money."

Stephen Daniel says it's normal to hear gunshots popping outside his home on Lyons Avenue.

"There's been shootings a couple blocks over and down this way and that away," Daniel said. "And you hear it all the time!"

As one would imagine, Daniel was slow to unlock his door to strangers but opened up once he heard why they were there.

"They said they are going to get IMPD more involved in this area," he said.

A team of volunteers went door-to-door offering information about social services, addiction treatment and resources for mental health.

It's an all-hands-on-deck effort led by the City of Indianapolis, with help from the Decatur Township Drug-Free Coalition.

According to the city's crime viewer map, well over 250 crimes were reported in the area in the last three months alone, including nearly 200 property crimes.

'There's a lot of prostitution here. There's obviously a lot of poverty," Pastor Pete Johnson said. "There's a lot of properties that's run down."

All things that Daniel and his neighbors are hoping will change soon. But they can't do it alone.

Volunteers are working on following up with residents after taking notes on their concerns.