Pipeline into Policing

Posted on July 9, 2018 by Leslie Wells

(L-R) Jen Popiela, Dominique Bohannon, and Michael Graban — (L-R) SPEA alumni Jen Popiela, Dominique Bohannon, and SPEA student Michael Graban serve as IMPD Cadets.

“I’ve wanted to work for IMPD my entire life,” Michael Graban says with a smile. “I’ve always felt the need to help the public. That’s just who I am and how I was raised.”

The SPEA criminal justice major was indeed raised on the force. Graban’s father and step-father currently serve on the department. His mother is retired IMPD.

Now, he’s in line to carry on that family tradition through the IMPD Cadet program.

After a nearly decade-long hiatus, the program was relaunched in 2017 in partnership with the Indy Public Safety Foundation and the Indianapolis Foundation.

“We restarted the program to funnel qualified candidates into the police department,” says Officer Christine Mannina, who oversees the program. “It gives young people an opportunity to be around the inner-workings of a police department and really see if this is a career they want.”

The department accepts cadets ages 18-24 who are or will be enrolled in college and are interested in a law enforcement career. The paid, part-time positions also fill workload gaps within IMPD.

(more…)

Panhandling in Indianapolis

Posted on June 25, 2018 by Leslie Wells

While many cities are concerned with the human and economic impacts of panhandling, scarce research has gathered information directly from those who panhandle. Researchers at the Indiana University Public Policy Institute partnered with the Coalition for Homelessness Intervention and Prevention, and Downtown Indy, Inc. for a pilot study to better understand those who panhandle.

Outreach staff for homeless service providers took to the streets of downtown Indianapolis on three separate days in June 2017, August 2017, and December 2017 during lunch and after-work hours. Of the 73 individuals approached who were panhandling, 49 agreed to participate in the survey. The findings are reflective of the self-reported information from those individuals and provide a better look who is panhandling in Downtown Indianapolis.

(more…)

Changing Course: From Law School to Criminal Justice

Posted on June 18, 2018 by Leslie Wells

“I came here wanting to go to law school. That was my ultimate goal.”

Antoine Burks knew his path. He knew he wanted to become a criminal lawyer. He had mapped out his course to success. To achieve his goal, Burks decided to leave Terre Haute and pursue a Criminal Justice degree from the School of Public and Environmental Affairs at IUPUI.

“I really, really enjoyed the topics and discussions in my criminal justice classes,” Burks says.

His plan would then have taken him to law school. But it didn’t take long before he realized that even though his dream looked good on paper, it wasn’t his passion.

“I want something that my heart is going to be in it, that I’m going to love doing,” Burks says. “I really want to do something where I can help people and make a difference.”

That’s when he decided to change course.

(more…)

Reducing Violence in Indianapolis: A public discussion with city and national experts

Posted on June 13, 2018 by O'Neill at IUPUI

Jeremy Carter, SPEA — SPEA Associate Professor Jeremy Carter will moderate the public safety forum.

SPEA at IUPUI will host an upcoming public safety forum on reducing violence in Indianapolis, featuring an expert panel discussion on challenges facing the community and potential solutions. The event will include an audience question-and-answer session.

The public forum is Thursday, June 28, from 6 to 8 p.m. in the Faegre Baker Daniels Conference Room on the first floor of Sidney & Lois Eskenazi Hospital, 720 Eskenazi Avenue, Indianapolis, IN 46202.

Indianapolis’ newly named director of community violence reduction Shonna Majors, IMPD police chief Bryan Roach, Robert Woodson from the Woodson Center in Washington, D.C., and SPEA associate professor and criminal justice director Jeremy Carter will discuss the challenges Indianapolis faces in addressing violence, as well as effective national practices and potential city partnerships to reduce violence.

On June 6, the city launched its Community-Based Violence Prevention Partnership—a $300,000 investment in neighborhoods that will support evidence-based violence reduction programming and wraparound services.

SPEA’s public safety forum is open to the community. Attendees may register and submit questions on our website.

SPEA’s Cullen Merritt Receives Trustees’ Teaching Award

Posted on June 11, 2018 by Leslie Wells

SPEA assistant professor Cullen Merritt’s devotion to teaching began when he was just a child.

“My teachers would let me take extra assignments home,” he recalls. “I would make my little brother do them and then grade his work for fun. When my brother realized he didn’t have to do the assignments, he refused. I was so upset because I thought he didn’t want to learn.”

Despite his early commitment to educating others, Merritt’s sights were set on a law degree. Yet as he pursued that plan, he says his love for teaching began to resurface.

“If you reflect back and identify what you were interested in as a child, that’s perhaps what you should be doing,” he says.

(more…)