By the end of 1997, we expanded that capacity from 366 to 646. Last year, we included funding for an additional 350 spaces which will bring our capacity to house serious juvenile male offenders to over 1,000 by the end of this biennium. We have developed strict sanctions on violent juveniles, and we have also implemented intervention efforts. These changes in the law expanded incarceration capacity and intervention programs to give communities the opportunity to help young people avoid crime and to give law enforcement and justice officials the tools to rein in the juveniles who are committing violent crimes. When drug trafficking, gang activity, and street violence become prevalent, everyone suffers.
Property values decline, and social values are overshadowed by violence and other criminal behavior.
Law-abiding Hoosiers are paralyzed by persistent acts of violence from drug dealers and gang terrorists. In order to return safety to our streets, police and citizens in communities need help. The State declared two Public Safety Improvement Areas in Indianapolis this past year. Indiana already has two other Public Safety Improvement Areas in East Chicago and Michigan City. This designation enables judges to impose harsher sentences for crimes committed within those areas.