Indiana Republican senators unveil package of bills aimed at crime reduction

A group of Republican senators from Marion County unveiled a package of bills Thursday that seeks to address what they view as a worrying trend of violent crimes.

The number of violent crimes in Marion County has gone down each of the last four years.

The measures include greater cooperation between law enforcement agencies in downtown Indianapolis, a pilot program to target money towards so-called violent crime hotspots and greater oversight of electronic monitoring.

Sen. Mike Young (R-Indianapolis) said the bills target those charged with the state’s list of 21 violent crimes, which includes battery, kidnapping, rape and burglary.

“We know the odds are, if you’re a serious violent felon, you’re more likely to be the one that killed somebody,” Young said.

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Young’s measure would make it harder for people charged with violent crimes to be released on bail. That includes making them pay the full minimum bail amount in cash.

He insisted that won’t unfairly punish low-income Hoosiers.

“There’s not a lot of millionaires that I know that are going around killing citizens of Indianapolis today,” Young said.

The measures will likely get a hearing in the Senate in early January.

Contact reporter Brandon at bsmith@ipbs.org or follow him on Twitter at @brandonjsmith5.