Crime

In 2014, Kansas City, historically one of the 10 most-violent U.S. cities, was headed for its lowest homicide rate in five decades.

Nathan Trapuzzano was set to celebrate his one-year wedding anniversary with wife Jennifer a month after the shooting. She gave birth to their child weeks later.

As tempting as it might be to turn past such a tough subject, I encourage you to take a moment to absorb the effect one year of gun violence has had on our city.

One year after the tragic death of her daughter, Nancy Comiskey reflects on Kate and their lives together.

This was his 10th conviction. We left the justice center believing we could close the door on the criminal case. But a few years later, he walked out of prison a free man and moved 18 miles from our Brown County home. And he got a driver’s license.

Marion County’s jail intake facility wrestles with arresting charges of sexual misconduct.

A full-blown conspiracy theory needs a motive to thrive. And last September, the government served up a doozy: On top of the child-porn prosecution, it announced, Sachtleben had agreed to plead to additional, “unrelated” charges of breaching national security.

The jury’s decision stunned the sleepy town. As one Nashville denizen told IM, “Good luck finding someone who admits to knowing those two now. The entire community thinks they’re guilty as sin.”

What Daniel Foster knows for sure is that by 2:15 a.m., his brother lay in the club’s parking lot, blood seeping from his ear.

“I feel like we are doing this by ourselves and fighting a losing battle,” says Rev. Charles Harrison.

Indianapolis is drawing heroin straight from Mexico and bypassing Chicago altogether—which might account for the high potency.

Councillor John Barth proposed a bipartisan study to help determine how many officers Indy really requires, so the Council can work on a long-term plan. “We need to take politics out of policing,” he says.

Crusader of the Year: U.S. Attorney Joe Hogsett. No one made more big cases in the past year—and his savvy press people made sure we all heard about the exploits. The crime-fighter still has plenty of fish to fry.

Numbers don’t tell the whole story. Facts on the ground make us fear that crime is simply running amok, particularly in some of the city’s destination neighborhoods and at showcase attractions.

“The guys around here are looking for trashy. I wear old, worn-out pants—I’ll even rub them around in the dirt. I’ll smudge my makeup, or maybe ruin my manicure. The idea is to look hard-luck, not sexy.”