The Near West Collaborative Crime Reduction (NWCCR) Project is an innovative community engagement and technology initiative in one of Indianapolis’ most historic communities – the Near West Collaborative. Beginning in November 2019, the NWCCR Project engaged community leaders, law enforcement, local clergy/houses of worship, non-profit groups, businesses and residents in collaborative problem solving and crime reduction efforts.
PROJECT AREA:
This historic Near West Collaborative Community consists of several neighborhoods - Hawthorne, Stringtown, We Care and others, located within the boundaries of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department’s (IMPD) Southwest District, directly across the White River from Downtown Indianapolis. In the Near West Collaborative community, crime ‘hot spots’ have increased community unrest, contributing to a sense of distress and threatening educational and economic opportunities. Once successfully implemented, the NWCCR Project can be replicated throughout the city, state and across the nation.
PROJECT PARTNERS:
The Indianapolis One Congregation One Precinct (OneCOP) initiative is partnering with:
Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Dept. (IMPD); Marion County Sheriff’s Office ;Marion County Prosecutor’s Office; U.S. Attorney’s Office; Indianapolis FOP; National Police Foundation; AT&T; LISC Indianapolis; Southwest District houses of worship; Hawthrone Neighborhood Association, Stringtown Neighborhood Association and other communitybased businesses and neighborhood organizations on the NWCCR project.
PROJECT GOAL & STEPS:
The NWCCR project will support community engagement via a new social media application called the “OneCOP App” which will help address violent crime through cross-sector community partnerships. The OneCOP App will facilitate police-community communication and public safety awareness through the following five steps:
Step 1: Establish the NWCCR Advisory Group to guide the project from start to finish.
Step 2: Develop community crime reduction strategies as part of a comprehensive NWCCR Implementation Plan.
Step 3: Develop the OneCOP mobile application (App) to support community engagement and crime reduction strategies.
Step 4: Launch the OneCOP App as a method for increasing citizen engagement in crime reduction efforts throughout the Near West Collaborative community.
Step 5: Evaluate and measure the success of the NWCCR Project.
THE TECHNOLOGY:
The OneCOP App will be an information distribution and communications platform to support crime reduction efforts in the Near West Collaborative community. The OneCOP App will serve as a community tool to proactively engage with local law enforcement and faith-based organizations while also leveraging existing popular social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, etc.) to help reverse rising crime trends and increase safety in the Near West Collaborative community. Using native GPS/GIS technologies already built into iOS and Android devices, the OneCOP App will enable users to dynamically generate an experience custom tailored to their exact location. Users will be able to view a community map with recent crime incidents, submit crime tips, view informational videos, receive crime alerts, view links to crime prevention resources and much more. A modern technology stack of serverless functions, geospatial databases, and API’s will power this app.
For More Info. contact Ryan Yarrell, J.D., Managing Director of OneCOP Indy at ryan.yarrell@movementforward.org or 317.939.6700.