FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
INDIANAPOLIS — The Indiana University Public Policy Institute has announced that Troy Riggs will join its team as director of public safety outreach. Riggs currently serves as director of public safety for the City of Indianapolis
“I have appreciated Troy’s partnership in using and acknowledging SAVI database,” IUPUI Chancellor Charles Bantz said. ”We are pleased to bring to IUPUI, SPEA and the Public Policy Institute a public safety leader who takes a data-based approach to public safety and who has worked closely with IUPUI’s nationally recognized SAVI database. Our students and community will benefit from Troy Riggs’ teaching and research.”
The SAVI Community Information System is a one-stop source for data and information for Central Indiana communities and organizations. It provides local data about the social, economic, and physical conditions of neighborhoods, townships, and counties, and other geographic areas such as school districts. SAVI summarizes these data into community profiles and allows users to view and analyze detailed data in interactive maps, charts and tables.
In this new role, Riggs will lead and facilitate public safety projects and continue the Public Policy Institute’s leadership as a center for best practices and applied research with criminal justice issues. He will also teach students as a clinical assistant professor with the School of Public and Environmental Affairs. Both positions are on the Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis campus. Riggs officially assumes his new roles in August.
“Riggs’ extensive experience makes him a tremendous addition to SPEA’s graduate and undergraduate criminal justice and public safety programs,” said Lilliard Richardson, executive associate dean for SPEA at IUPUI. “His connections to local and national public safety communities will also be extremely valuable to students’ professional development and as they look for internships and jobs.”
Riggs, a Louisville, Ky., native, previously held public safety roles with the Corpus Christi Police Department, Louisville Metro Police Department and Jefferson County Police Department. He has been with the City of Indianapolis since 2012.
“Troy Riggs has impacted how public safety is thought of in Marion County,” said Mark Lawrance, director of the IU Policy Institute. “His innovative, data-driven, community-based approach has resulted in better training and unique collaborations among community partners to improve the safety of our neighborhoods. We look forward to leveraging his expertise and passion to address public safety in Indiana at the IU Public Policy Institute.”
About the IU Public Policy Institute:
A multidisciplinary institute within the Indiana University School of Public and Environmental Affairs, the IU Public Policy Institute delivers unbiased research and data-driven, objective, expert analysis to help public, private and nonprofit sectors make important decisions that directly impact quality of life in Indiana and throughout the nation. Using the knowledge and expertise of its staff and faculty, the institute provides research and analysis that is free of political and ideological bias and addresses a wide range of issues to deliver data and insights needed to make informed decisions. The institute’s efforts also support the Indiana Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations.
About SPEA
At the IU School of Public and Environmental Affairs, people learn how to work in government, nonprofit and business roles to make positive changes in their communities, their states, their countries and the world. SPEA graduates lead the organizations that make and enforce laws, keep communities livable and safe, shape smart public policy, protect the planet and help our fellow citizens.