If you don’t have a safe city, you don’t have a great city.
In my opinion, crime prevention should be the top priority of local elected leaders. You can build great roads and attract top businesses and amenities to come to your city, but if people don’t feel safe going out with their family, you’ll see property values plummet and businesses begin to suffer.
Fortunately, Carmel has remained a safe community even as our population continues to grow. In 2023, Carmel was named as number one on a list of affordable safe suburbs in the U.S. and the safest suburb in Indiana, according to a June report in SmartAssett.
Click here to see our 2022 crime statistics for Carmel.
In 2022, there were only two homicides in Carmel, which is amazing for a city of more than 100,000 people, which is the fifth or sixth largest city in the state (depending on the source).
Just south of Hamilton County, Indianapolis reported 226 homicides in 2022. I understand Indianapolis is about nine times the size of Carmel, and I’m not trying to pick on Indianapolis or disparage its residents or leaders, but I just wanted to show a comparison.
We’ve seen homicide rates on the rise for a number of years in Indianapolis. From 2020 to 2022, more than 740 criminal homicides occurred in Indianapolis, according to IMPD statistics published on Fox59. Compare this to less than 500 criminal homicides for the three years prior, 2017 to 2019.
There are many root causes of violent crime, such as health issues, poverty, education, family situations, etc.
One way we can address crime is making sure we have enough police officers on the street. This is a problem nationwide. An analysis of two years of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and Census Bureau data shows a steady decline in both law enforcement jobs during the pandemic. From March 2020 to August 2022, the number of local law enforcement employees decreased by 4 percent, the most recent data show. The Census Bureau’s government payroll survey shows similar trends.
Carmel has done better than most cities when it comes to hiring police, but, like most cities, we are always looking for more.
If you know someone interested in joining CPD, refer them to carmel.in.gov/government/departments-services/police/career-opportunities. They can also reach out to cpdrecruitment@carmel.in.gov.
I feel very honored that I’ve been endorsed by the Carmel Fraternal Order of Police, and I pledge to continue to give our police department the tools and training they need to keep us safe. I also support initiatives to provide better pay and benefits and find more ways to attract new officers to join CPD.
Crime prevention is priority number one. Without a safe city, we don’t have a great city.
Adam Aasen is a City Councilor representing Carmel’s Southeast District.