Tuesday, February 27, 2007

Beware, Monument Circle Unsafe

There's further evidence of how bad the city's crime problem has become. Yesterday, a woman was robbed, kidnapped, raped and carjacked at gun point as she left work in downtown Indianapolis at 5:00 just a block from Monument Circle. WTHR reports:

Metro police are investigating a downtown Indianapolis robbery, kidnapping, rape and carjacking. It happened as the victim left work just before five o'clock Monday. The victim parked on the fourth floor of the East Market Street Parking Garage just one block off Monument Circle.

She victim told police the suspect put a gun to her as she put her laptop in her car. He reportedly forced her to drive to the Chase Bank on Monument Circle to withdraw cash but changed his mind after seeing several people out and about. He ordered her to drive to the Chase Bank at Michigan and King on the west side.

After forcing her to withdraw cash, the victim says he sexually assaulted her in a nearby alley. She says her attacker wanted more cash, but this time at the ATM she jumped out of the car, ran to the bank and alerted tellers who called police.

"When you hear something like this happen it really gets you going. You want to get this guy and get him off the street," said IPMD Sgt. Matthew Mount. "He's obviously a threat to anybody on the street, and it's our hope that we can find him, arrest him, take him to court and put him in jail where he belongs."The victim described the suspect as a teenage black male, thin build about 5'8" wearing a blue polo shirt with yellow stripes. He wore dark pants. He stole her purse and drove away in her 2000 Green Sunfire with Indiana license plate number 97-Y-2927.

19 comments:

Anonymous said...

It is getting more frightening everyday in this city. Last week I went downtown to see a concert and I was afraid for my safety. I don't like to feel that way. I lived in NYC and never had anything happen to me personally, I had someone break in to the office space I was renting - big whoop - but not to my being.

Bart better address the growing crime in his 'State of the City' address, it is out of control.

Anonymous said...

The ATM was within 100 feet of the front doors of the police station there, well within view

Anonymous said...

Get used to it. The IMPD is a mess despite what the mayor tells you. We used to have time to actually patrol our districts and be pro-active. Now all we do is take report runs all day, 80% of these could be taken over the phone.

The mayor promised those of you that live and work in the old IPD service district that you would not lose any manpower. He lied, you have!

Ask any uniformed officer how bad it is. Most will tell you the truth despite the threats they receive from their commanders not to say anything negative about the department.

Did you see the channel 8 story about the rising crime in Broad Ripple? Officers that are assigned to Broad Ripple and the old IPD beats near Broad Ripple are so busy taking runs North of there in Castleton, Geist, etc. that they don't have time for anything else including being in Broad Ripple. That is what is happening all across Marion County.

Anonymous said...

When are we going to realize what is going on is more than just upset cops, working without a contract for the 2nd straight year? Crime, especially violent and personal(rape, robbery, etc) are out of control, police morale is at an all time low, property values throughout the city suck, taxes continue to rise, and the mayor turns a blind eye to all of it. I want to move out of Marion County, but I can't sell my house. I wonder why. There is no way people who land jobs in the city would choose to live in the county. Why not live in Carmel, Fishers, Avon or Greenwood with less crime, better schools, and higher property values. To hell in a handbasket, with the corrupt machine continuing to roll.

Anonymous said...

I'm one of many, who is just a little tired of the constant nattering about crime, and tying it to the mayor and the police merger.

The public safety environment in this county was a mess. The merger will, over time, clean that up. It will take time for districts and duties to be assimilated throughout the new county-wide department.

Can we stop blaming the mayor and sheriff, who are genuinely trying to merge these departments? Sure, there are problems. But there always have been problems.

For one thing, the mayor is no longer in charge of public safety. It's the sheriff. And the sheriff had a sterling reputation as a US Marshall, from diverse evaluators including one of the nation's most conservative Republican-appointed judges, Sarah Evans Barker. Do you really think that Frank Anderson would risk a lifelong reputation, to plunder a sheriff's office for four years, at the end of his career?

The public safety mess requires much cooperation from all parties: the prosecutor, the sheriff, the judges, and the Council, who must appropriate proper funds for the jail and court operations.

Or the whole system crumbles, regardles show well the line officers do their jobs.

The crime you've outlined here is reprehensible. We must find a way to curb it. But this insane carping about the mayor is not solving anything, and evidently it's falling on deaf ears, too.

To the unhappy LEOs who don't like the merger: build a bridge and get over it. Or leave.

This, too, shall pass. Like all long-overlooked problems, it will not solve itself quickly. But it will get solved by good people like Frank Anderson. And Carl Brizzi. And, if they have guts, our Council, because this fix will be expensive. Most long-delayed problems are expensive.

Anonymous said...

The mayor oversees the CCC who determines the budget for public safety. Over the last several years, spending on public safety has taken a back seat to other special projects. The police can't control crime because they are several hundred officers short for a city of this size. Multiple beats are going uncovered EVERYDAY and officers are responding on runs from longer and longer distances. As long as the priorities of the mayor and CCC continue to be so out of whack, the quality of life in Marion County will continue to head towards the shitter. PERIOD.

Anonymous said...

11:02, reality called...they want their facts back.

Where do you get this stuff?

The mayor does NOT oversee the Council. In fact, far from it. The council is an embarrassment, and changes need to be made. But the Mayor has zippo to do with the council's operations.

Per-resident expenses for public safety have increased in the last six years, dramatically. Fact. But it will take even more.

Differing folks can offer other views, but I think the main problem has been and will continue to be lack of proper jail space. Too many criminals are getting turned loose too soon.

Dangerous criminals have a decent chance of getting set loose before their trials, not because they can make bail, but because the jail is overcrowded.

This has been a problem for at least 24 years. The fix is costly, and prior Republican administrations ignored it.

Now, the judges, prosecutor, sheriff and council are working cooperatively to take care of some of this problem. It's the first cooperative effort ever, involving all the parties. Partisan or territorial bickering have compounded the problem in the past, and one party controlled everything then.

When the parties decide that solutions are more important than headlines, and risks must be taken, including raising taxes, then the entire problem will get the attention it deserves.

But don't go throwing this argument out there, that public safety spending has decreased. It is patently untrue.

Now if you want to argue about the effectiveness and priorities used in some of those expenditures, have at it. Any bureaucracy, including the IMPD, has waste that, when cut, can direct money more effectively to the streets.

"Period." And paragraph.

Anonymous said...

9:42, If you think the mayor is not running the police department or in charge of public safety you are sadly mistaken. He has control of the money. Peterson is a smart politician, and smart politicians do not give up that kind of power!

The sheriff was given "control" of the police department to create another layer of bureaucracy so that Peterson will be able to point his finger at Anderson, or whomever the sheriff may be, to take the heat off himself when things go bad.

Tired of the nattering? Too bad. Build a bridge? They all got torn down by your mayor. Leave? No way, because despite all the nattering, we still go out and do our jobs and answer your calls for service because we're professionals.

And yes, we do think the sheriff is a sell out. He took a $50,000 payoff to change his mind about the merger. Do you recall that?

For a city this size we are 600 officers short. With the merged police department we have exactly the same amount of calls for service and man-power as we had as seperate agencies. About 200 are scheduled to retire in the next two years, that's not including the ones who are eligable to retire, fed up with this crap, and ready to pull the plug!

Do the math.

Anonymous said...

"Differing folks can offer other views, but I think the main problem has been and will continue to be lack of proper jail space. Too many criminals are getting turned loose too soon."

You forgot about something: Every mid level or big time dealer gets locked up. We get the jail space issue solved and this person gets held for months before trial. That is great. However, his area of business is now up for grabs. Guess what happens next, a war for the hood where this guy was in charge. Add this to cops not being pro-active, meeting between drug dealers will take place. Guns will get from point A to point B. Some meetings will turn ugly and guns will quickly be drawn. More people might end up dying. If you think the elite political hacks in this county really care that poor people are dying in higher numbers, I have some lake front property to sell you. These people don't care, and judging by how votes are going, neither do most of the citizens. Brizzi won. Anderson won. Bart will win. Obviously folks in Marion County are plenty happy with the status quo. The only people not happy are the cops, who I hear are taking the advice from their former boss and looking at police jobs outside of IMPD. Good luck fellas!!

Anonymous said...

11:32 you must be living in fantasy land if you think the mayor has no control over the CCC...but turning a blind eye to the corruption in an attempt to make it go away is typical of the supporters of this administration. As far as public safety spending goes, Peterson ran on a platform of hiring 200 additional officers. What he didnt tell you and what you didn't bother to learn is that the funding for those officers came from a federal grant obtained under the Goldsmith administration. Then, Peterson failed to budget for the salaries of those officers when the grant period ran out. How did he solve that problem you ask? Simple. Through retirements and attrition he just didn't replace enough officers. And guess where we at now? Back at pre-Peterson staffing levels for IMPD. Less officers at less cost equals a cut in public safety spending, no matter how you slice it. Goodbye.....

Anonymous said...

Noon, I think you confuse your "math" with facts. By statute, the mayor does not control the police now.

Where was your selective indignation when Republicans ran everything--and our jail, combined sewer overflow, and other expensive problems were ignored for decades? Huh?

Nice try.

What else ya got besides hysteria?

I never doubt the professional LEOs will respond to whatever call I might make. They're good and absolutely worthy of our respect. And they outnumber the whiners big-time.

It's the whiney few among that group, who unfortunately speak as if they're speaking for all LEOs. I know a fair number of LEOs...older ones, younger ones, brown ones, white ones, female, male...and to a person, they're ready for the merger, and pleased.

Even if they weren't it makes no difference--it's the law now. Live with it or quit. There are ample academy wannabes to take your place.

In short--hush up and do the job. Tired of the belly-aching. Especially when it's not based on facts.

It's very unprofessional, if you are really an LEO.

IndyU is full of the same babbling eight or nine (alleged) LEOs. Read em and weep.

Anonymous said...

"Even if they weren't it makes no difference--it's the law now. Live with it or quit. There are ample academy wannabes to take your place."

If it is wannabes you want, it is wannabes you will get. Just don't get upset when these bottom of the barrel hires end up getting the city sued for millions year after year.

Anonymous said...

Dear Leo's 9:42 a.m. is a Mayor's Go-fer. Probably Steve Campbell or Jerry McCorny or both. This merger and the resulting crime increase is clearly the fault of Bart Peterson and his arrogant administration. The experienced police department leadership was left out of the planning for the consolidation. This was no accident. The mayor wanted total control! As to Frank Anderson,he has never been a real police officer. He has no real crime fighting experience and he is obviously a political sell-out. He claimed to be opposed to consolidation until, of course, the mayor met his price. Remember the $ 50,000 pay increase while already making over $ 350,000 per year. Of course Frank is worth it. B.S. Frank is a joke! He has no crime fighting plan and he is as corrupt as any sheriff that has ever served in Marion County. I have never seen a sheriff protect a corrupt state senator like Glenn Howard by ordering the changing of a police report. Is it a fluke that Frank Anderson's treasurer, Payton Wells, received contracts from old Frankie Boy! Is it a mistake that Frankie Boy purchased cars from Payton Wells? This is an obvious conflict of interest and unethical. What does a federal judge know about local law enforcement. Stop all the B.S. while trying to defend and protect Bart Peterson and Frank Anderson, simply look at the crime rate before these idiots took over with their merger as compared to the crime rate now. It is obvious and the Mayor's flukies can not change the truth!Bart Peterson and Frank Anderson are personally responsible for the deaths of many innocent citizens and the victimization of many more. They are worst than most criminals that I know!

The Indy Chicken said...

If this happened one block from the Circle on E Market, then it was also one block west of the CCB AKA the IMPD. Why is that not mentioned on TV or in the press?

Anonymous said...

I read recently where the number of violent violent crimes (assaults) in Indianapolis has risen by 357% since 1960. What has changed that much to make Indy so much more violent since 1960. I have lived near downtown Indy nearly my entire life and I've never seen it get this bad. Where's the outrage? If we need 200, 300 or 600 more LEO's on the street then it has to happen.

Anonymous said...

Crap! My little old mother called me from a different state saying she had read how bad it is hear. I don't want to worry her and tell her I'm ok, but I'M NOT! It is coming to a neighborhood near you soon!

Anonymous said...

Has anyone else noticed that there is not ONE post from the notarious dumpster diver? Hmmm...good old democrats are doing nothing about the crime. It is out of control, not much to say now? Other times he can't shut his mouth. Just as well, how can anyone defend this would be beyond me.

Not all of us voted for Frankie.

Wilson46201 said...

Considering the crowd this topic would draw, it is often wise to stay away from frothing, rabid dogs.

"Frankie's" opponent was so bad that even his own Republican boss had busted him down a couple of ranks for "ghost employment" - not exactly a quality leadership history there!

Anonymous said...

1:25, Math is right, facts are right. Clear on the statute. I said he controls the money, which is the power, which=control. No hysteria here.

Why do you assume I have selective indignation? I claim no allegience to either party. I have written and spoke out when Goldsmith was mayor as well as Hudnut. I have been indignant over plenty of issues other than public safety, including the sewer problem. I never said Peterson was responsible for all the problems created before he was elected. He certainly dropped the ball on public safety though, and treats police officers like sh*t!

Also clear that the merger is the law now. Still not going to quit though.

You are living in a fantasy world if you think the majority of leo's in this city are pleased with the merger. Not sure who you have been talking to but it's not the rank and file. Appointed ranks I'm sure.

We will not hush up, however, we will continue to do our jobs despite the lack of leadership and respect from the current administration. It's what we do.

Nice try 1:25, what else you got other than being a Peterson apologist?