Eagledale Receives Million Dollar Grant(posted Sept 5) The Eagledale Lafayette Area (ELA) is the city's eighth recipient of the US Department of Justice $1 million 5 year program to weed out crime in the area. "It is a big big day," Mayor Bart Peterson said to residents, IMPD officers, government leaders, and business leaders that gathered to officially acknowledge the award. The weed and seed program is more than filling out a grant application to compete with other communities across the nation for the money. It is about building community and police relationships to reclaim neighborhoods. Peterson explained that a community has to acknowledge that a criminal element exists and although Eagledale is a suburban area, for some reason Eagledale has been a conducive environment for crime. Peterson said Eagledale is not the only suburban area that has fallen to crime. It is common among many suburbs across the country. "We have to recognize that there are forces that tear our communities apart," he said Peterson touted the grant writing skills of Liz Allison and Barbara Rogers from the IMPD Administration to make this happen. Indianapolis is one of the leading communities in the country to receive the weed and seed grants. It was a special moment for Tim Horty of the Law Enforcement Division of US District Attorney's Office, who acknowledged his personal involvement in the year long weed and seed steering committee meetings that were necessary to develop a program to submit to the DOJ. Horty was the Chief of IPD's West District when the grant process was started. He noted that "Weed and Seed is a proven strategy" that has been implemented in over 300 sites across the country. He said the ELA is a unique opportunity to involve business leaders because of the high retail area in the Lafayette Square Area. IMPD Major Paul Ciesielski plans to pick up where Horty left off as IMPD police representative. The steering committee has been in a hiatus while waiting the DOJ's review of the grant application. Ciesielski explained the police have a stronger presence in the community with its new location at 3821 Industrial Boulevard. "It is a stone throw away from Lafayette Square." His statement that "Lafayette Square Area is a safe place to shop," drew an applause from the audience of residents and local business leaders. Scott Rosenberger, executive director of the Eagledale Northwest Community Center, said the money is directed to Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department. The police programs are a key component to weed out the criminal element. The ELA decided to tackle the drug activity in the community as well as gang and graffiti issues. The grass roots neighborhood driven plan intends to reach beyond crime by providing education to non English speaking residents about zoning and health issues. The plan includes addressing landlord accountability and abandon housing issues that drive down property values. The Eagledale Neighborhood Association currently works on zoning enforcement to deter crime. State Representative Jeb Bardon said the grant award speaks of the "mountains and mountains" of committees efforts. "It (weed and seed grant) will make a difference," he said. He especially commended ENA Board member Margaret Arthur's contributions. One of Arthur's contributions was to provide information about prison re-entry programs that are now part of the weed and seed plan. Arthur has housed female ex-offenders to help them readjust into the society and into the work place. |
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