They managed to turn around some of the most dangerous neighborhoods in the country. An organization called the Indy Ten Point Coalition was started in Indianapolis by a group of police and faith leaders looking to turn the city's deadly tide.
They've seen major success and now, they're bringing their formula and their message to Cleveland.
Cleveland and Indianapolis are similar cities facing a similar scourge of crime.
Indy was in a downward spiral. It had soaring homicide numbers and communities consumed by gunfire. That was, until Reverend Charles Harrison stepped in, with his Ten Point Coalition.
"In the areas where we patrolled in collaborative partnership with police, we saw a significant reduction in violence," he said.
Wearing Ten Point Coalition vests, a group of pastors, community leaders and ex-cons, hit some of the most dangerous streets in Indianapolis. The group spoke to residents in the most vulnerable neighborhoods and developed relationships that enabled them to step in when violence heated up.
Since 2015, the Ten Point Coalition managed to eradicate homicides in three of the four Indianapolis neighborhoods they patrolled.
"It will drop the homicide numbers, it will lessen the number of people that end up going to prison and we restore hope where there's hopelessness," said Harrison.
Harrison's success is getting noticed. Last month he met with Attorney General Jeff Sessions and Vice President Mike Pence to try and develop similar models in some of the country's most dangerous cities, including Cleveland.
His work is getting national attention too. @charlesharriso5 met last month with @VP & @TheJusticeDept to discuss his success in #Indianpolis and how the TPC can be replicated in some of the U.S.'s most dangerous cities @WEWS pic.twitter.com/MrE5reofFu
— James Gherardi (@JamesGherardi) February 16, 2018
"Our hope is to let cities like Cleveland know that you can reduce the violence," he said.
"When I heard their results, I almost fell off my chair," said Rob Kilo.
Former Cleveland mayoral candidate Rob Kilo first contacted Harrison a year ago and is glad to see their vision finally being brought to his city.
"Wow, this is dangerous stuff but you know what? It's worth it because our young people are dying way too much, that has to stop and it has to stop now," said Kilo.
Ten Point officials will be meeting Friday with members of Cleveland City Council and the police department to try and set in motion a plan to replicate the Ten Point Coalition in Cleveland.
