Rev. Charles Harrison Joins!

Nigel (0:00)

It's The Hammer and Nigel Show. Hello! My name is Nigel Jason Hammer, right over there with a very special guest on the hotline.

Jason Hammer (0:07)

We've been talking a lot about the crime in Indy. Some good news, some bad news. Let's bring on one of our favorites, Reverend Charles Harrison.

He is with the Ten Point Coalition. And, Reverend, we've got some good news, we've got some bad news, right? The good news is the homicide numbers have been trickling down, but the bad news is the age of some of these perpetrators, 14, 15 It feels like we're getting these stories all the time. Just curious as to your overall view of the way crime is going in Indy right now.

Charles Harrison (0:46)

Well, we're certainly, you know, pleased that the overall criminal homicide numbers and overall homicide numbers are down from where they were in 2021 when we ended the year with 271 homicides.

And we have seen progress on the ground. But what we are more concerned about is still juvenile homicides are still up in non-fatal shootings. And that is, you know, concerning. And what is really concerning is that they seem to be getting younger and younger. Those who are the victims and the perpetrators of these juvenile crimes. And I think, you know, those of us who have been out here doing it a while are certainly very concerned about this trend.

Jason Hammer (1:43)

Reverend, you pay attention to the news. I know you watch television. You listen to the radio. You're aware of what's going on.

I've always said that the lack of male role models, the lack of a father or any sort of authority figure in the lives of a lot of these predominantly young black kids in the city of Indianapolis is one of the most neglected stories in the city. I never hear the counselors or the mayor or the prosecutor or anybody else really talk about the lack of a father in these homes.

Charles Harrison (2:19)

Well, they don't, and it is a touchy subject in the black community, but certainly it is one of the major contributing factors. When you have almost seven out of ten black children born in a single-parent household, and the absence of fathers in their life, not only fathers, but positive godly fathers in the life of these young men, and young ladies, but particularly young men, is one of the major contributing factors to what we're seeing on the ground. And those kids who don't have a positive male role model in their life, whether it be their father, what used to be, in my day, grandfathers, uncles, there was always someone in the family. Even if dad wasn't there, there was a positive role model for you, and you tend to model your life after that individual. And they provided guidance and direction for you. That's not happening today. And that's why you see a lot more of these kids who are out here searching for love, joining gangs and neighborhood cliques, and getting involved in drug trafficking, which tends to be the kind of juvenile violence that we're seeing.

And our concern is because of the lack of, you know, father figures in the life of these young men, we're starting to lose some of them at a younger age than what we did 10 years ago.

Nigel (3:52)

Is that part of the function of the Ten Point Coalition to fill that void? Do you feel that's one of the parts, the mission of the Ten Point Coalition?

Charles Harrison (4:02)

Well, and that's what we try to do. We try to get to know these youths.

You know, and I'm always posted pictures on social media. You see, we're trying to get them young now. You know, we know that we got to start trying to reach some of these children as young as five through what our coalition does at the age of 24 years old. So, yeah, we are like grandfather figures, father figures, uncles, cousins, mothers, grandmother figures out here to these young men, you know, that we encounter in the streets that are most at risk. And I think it's why TenPoint has had a lot of success.

You know, we get to know them. We get to know them. We're engaging with them. I think a lot of them know we care about them. And we can have tough conversations with these young men on the streets that helps them to take their life in a different direction. And a lot of times we're helping these kids process these conflicts they're having with other youth so that it doesn't lead to violence. And I think the results that TenPoint has in the 12 hotspot areas that we patrol, I think this is the first time in 27 years that we have not had a criminal youth homicide in our area for almost the first 10 months of the year. So just remarkable work being done, but it's because we're out on the street every day engaging these young people, and we call ourselves a part of the village, and trying to help these young men make better life choices.