‘A complete disrespect’: Dozens of Haughville businesses and homes struck by graffiti

Ricky Curry has been walking regularly through Haughville for the past nine years, and lately he’s grown concerned by a problem he’s seeing more often.

Curry, who lives on Ketcham Street, has noticed buildings covered in spray-painted graffiti.

“I ain’t seen anything like it,” Curry said. “It’s like these people don’t care about anything.”

Throughout the neighborhood, vandals have spray painted the walls of dozens of businesses, homes and even houses of worship. Unlike the street art seen on buildings around the city, the graffiti here consists of amateurish markings some residents worry could be linked to gangs.

Graffiti near businesses on 10th Street in Haughville, Feb. 24, 2025. Credit: Enrique Saenz/Mirror Indy

Haughville community leaders, business owners and residents held a press conference Feb. 24 at one of the buildings struck by vandals — the New Found Faith Baptist Church, 2902 W. 10th St. — to draw attention to the issue and look for solutions.

Community leaders had spoken to the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department in the past, but officers were not at the press conference. When asked by Mirror Indy, an IMPD spokesperson would not say whether officers suspected the graffiti was linked to gangs. The spokesperson pointed to a previous statement that, in part, said IMPD would increase patrols in the area and asked witnesses to call police to report graffiti.

“IMPD is aware of multiple incidents of graffiti across Indy’s west side,” the statement reads, in part. “Graffiti, when done without the owner’s permission on public or private property, is illegal and will not be tolerated.”

Security concerns

While it’s unclear whether the graffiti is gang-related, folks like lifelong Haughville resident Tracy Jackson are concerned about potential links.

In some instances, graffiti has been crossed out and replaced with newer graffiti, leading Jackson to believe more than one person or groups could be competing for space in the neighborhood. If that’s the case, Jackson worries it could escalate to violence in a territory war.

“I lived through the era where we went through gang rivalry before. We overcame crack in Haughville and all the other issues that affected our community,” said Jackson, president of the Haughville Strong Neighborhood Association. “It’s a complete disrespect, but we’re a strong community … We’re not going to give up easily on this fight.”

Residents also want the vandalism to stop because of potential negative economic effects.

Olgen Williams, president of the Westside Community Development Corp. and a former deputy mayor and IPS board member, said stopping the graffiti is important for maintaining property values and community pride. His group buys and sells homes in the near westside neighborhoods of Haughville, Hawthorne, We Care and Stringtown.

“We can’t live in a community like this, and we can’t sell houses like this, because people can see the properties being defaced,” Williams said.

A worsening problem

Jackson said the graffiti problem has been ramping up for months.

“It’s gotten tremendously worse,” Jackson said. “Last year, it started on stop signs, and now it’s on buildings, houses and garages. It appears that whoever is doing it keeps coming back and adding more and more.”

The graffiti has appeared on dozens of buildings and alleys up and down 10th Street. One home on Warman Avenue was covered in graffiti, with the vandals spray painting the siding, windows and the front door.

A vandalized home along North Warman Avenue in Haughville, Feb. 24, 2025. Credit: Enrique Saenz/Mirror Indy

Most recently, vandals struck the New Found Faith Baptist Church on the corner of 10th and Winfield Avenue, where they spray painted over a 75-foot-long exterior wall.

The church’s leader, the Rev. Edward Turner, said the vandalism is an affront to the hard work people have put into the neighborhood over decades to improve Haughville.

“I’ve seen the neighborhood grow. I’ve seen it get better. We’re trying to have a beautiful neighborhood,” Turner said. “For someone to come along and try to make it look bad … We pray that they will wake up and realize this is a good neighborhood for all people.”

Cleaning up the graffiti

The Haughville Strong Neighborhood Association, along with community groups from the Stringtown, Hawthorne and We Care neighborhood associations, are planning to team up to clean up the neighborhood graffiti.

According to Ana Santiago, who is the city’s neighborhood advocate for that area, the Mayor’s Action Center will coordinate with the groups to help find funds to paint over some of the vandalized buildings.

A vandalized business along North Warman Avenue in Haughville, Feb. 24, 2025. Credit: Enrique Saenz/Mirror Indy

But residents like Curry believe that covering up the vandalism won’t solve the problem.

“They’re just gonna do it again, and they’re gonna keep doing it until they get caught,” he said.

Several business owners and group leaders said they are considering installing cameras to catch the vandals and prevent more crime.

“We’ve talked about getting cameras,” said Friends of Belmont Beach President Tedd Hardy. “The cameras might not allow them to (conduct arrests), but it could help in court.”

How to report vandalism

IMPD asks that anyone who witnesses someone painting graffiti or engaging in other acts of vandalism call 911. Callers will be asked to provide detailed information, such as the location, a description of the suspect and any other identifying information.

To report about vandalism that’s not in progress or to provide evidence such as video, call IMPD’s non-emergency number at 317-327-3811 or complete a report online at IMPD’s Community Online Reporting site.

Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or enrique.saenz@mirrorindy.org. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.

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