INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. (WOWO): Law enforcement agencies across Central Indiana are working together to remove illegally possessed firearms from communities through the Indiana Crime Guns Task Force.
The task force includes investigators from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department, Indiana State Police, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and multiple local departments in Marion, Hamilton, Boone, and Hendricks counties.
Officials say the group’s focus has been identifying and removing firearms from people who are prohibited from legally possessing them.
IMPD Lt. Jered Hidlebaugh said the task force spent the first half of 2026 targeting illegally possessed firearms throughout Indianapolis and surrounding counties.
“We really focused on removing illegally possessed firearms from the streets of Indianapolis and surrounding counties,” Hidlebaugh said.
Hidlebaugh said investigators are working across county lines and using partnerships with local, state, and federal agencies to build cases and seize weapons connected to criminal activity.
“We’ve seen a lot of strides moving forward, getting some of these handguns and rifles out of the hands of individuals who should not be having them, who are committing violence against the citizens of Central Indiana,” he said.
Officials say the partnership extends beyond Indianapolis because criminal activity often crosses city and county boundaries.
Fishers Police Chief Ed Gebhart said communication between agencies is key to the effort. Fishers has assigned an intelligence analyst to the task force to share information about people of interest who may move between communities.
The department has also assigned a detective to work with Indianapolis investigators and added a digital forensics specialist to assist with evidence analysis.
“Criminals don’t know borders. Why should we have borders to enforcing them?” Gebhart said.
Law enforcement leaders say the continued collaboration is aimed at making it harder for individuals who are not legally allowed to own firearms to access and use them in violent crimes.
