Safety Cards for a Safer City


Posted by Bettye on 17 Jun 2015 / 0 Comment


From time to time, we at Downtown Indy and IMPD Downtown District are asked, “Is Downtown safe?” The answer is a resounding yes. Downtown Indy and Downtown District work together to make everyone’s visit and living experience free of serious victimization.

To assist with this effort, we collaboratively created an informational card that specifies our joint actions. It includes phone numbers for non-emergency calls for help and a number to call a professional-blended street outreach team to assist a homeless person in need.

All crimes committed Downtown account for only 4 percent of the total crime in all of Marion County. Most crimes are property crimes, theft of property from vehicles and shoplifting. Side note: leave nothing of value in your car; it is not a safety deposit box. Items, valuable or not, are a big temptation and have been for many years. And, now with heroin use on the rise, addicts will look for any opportunity to score money for drugs.

Back to our crime fighting partnership…

When Downtown has a large event, i.e., NCAA Final Four, etc.  Downtown Indy and Downtown District communicate our police response, public safety needs and manpower deployment. We also share information on suspects and hotspot areas. Both organizations perform high visibility patrols on the Canal. As for hotspots, well, I can’t elaborate as we have started an undercover operation to quell a problem. Here again, IMPD Downtown District provided us with intel and suggestions on how to best utilize our officers to be effective and not interfere with their initiatives.

Downtown Indy and Downtown District will begin distributing our safety and security cards this week. Lucky you – here is a sneak peak today. To obtain one of these cards, ask for one at an IMPD Task Force meeting, Coffee with a Cop, Community Conversation or a Downtown Indy event. Download the Safety Postcard PDF here 

This is the front of the safety card.

The front of the card states IMPD and Downtown Indy’s commitment to keeping Downtown safe.

The back of the card lists phone numbers to call for specific situations along with ways that Downtown Indy is making Downtown a safer community.

The back of the card lists phone numbers to call for specific situations along with ways that Downtown Indy is making Downtown a safer community.

Written by Bettye

Bettye Dobkins is Director of Safety and Security at Downtown Indy. She is a connoisseur of good dark beers, a home vegetable and flower gardener and is passionate about keeping Downtown Indy safe and sound for residents and visitors. “I think the Eskenazi Sky Farm sets the standard for new buildings and healthy living.”