Indianapolis is putting up its first custom-built police district headquarters in more than three decades, and it's landing on East 38th Street on a lot that used to be a health clinic. The Indianapolis City-County Council approved $12.5 million in construction bonds to build the new IMPD North District headquarters at 3840 North Sherman Drive, replacing a roll call site in Washington Park that officers have used since the mid-1990s.
The Washington Park building has been plagued by infrastructure failures for years, and representatives for the Indianapolis Fraternal Order of Police have publicly backed the move, according to Fox 59. IMPD Chief Tanya Terry said the new headquarters will be the first space designed and purpose-built specifically for North District officers, a distinction that matters after nearly 30 years of working out of adapted facilities. As reported by the Indianapolis Business Journal, the project marks the city's first city-built and city-owned district headquarters constructed since 1995.
From Health Clinic to Police Hub
Before it sat vacant, the 3840 North Sherman Drive site operated as the Eskenazi Health Center Forest Manor, per the Health & Hospital Corporation of Marion County. The building has sat empty since 2024, per Fox 59, and an April demolition bid posting preceded construction of the new headquarters.
The building's transition from a neighborhood health hub to a law enforcement facility lands in a district that remains one of IMPD's busiest for violent crime response, including a recent shooting on Edgemere Court that the department responded to. The station's report notes the North District covers 74 square miles and stretches from the old northside near downtown to Castleton and Geist Reservoir, serving a population Fox 59 puts at more than 200,000 residents. The dossier's separate city figures put the district's population at roughly 210,000 and its staffing at about 170 to 178 officers, though Fox 59 reports the new headquarters will house nearly 200 IMPD officers and employees.
What the New Building Will Include
The new facility's blueprint calls for more than 50 workstations, private and shared offices, an open lobby, and a dedicated community conference room that will be available to residents for meetings. The Indianapolis Business Journal reported more specific figures for those spatial plans, listing 52 workstations, 11 private offices, and four shared offices alongside the upgraded lobby and conference space.
The $12.5 million funding package consists of general obligation bonds capped at a term under 20 years with a maximum interest rate of 6.5%, according to the Indianapolis Business Journal. The council's Administration and Finance Committee advanced that bond proposal alongside a separate $15 million bond for a Department of Public Works garage, and Hoodline previously reported on the committee's initial approval of the North District package in August ahead of its final passage by the full council this month.
A Site Meant to Anchor a Growing Corridor
City officials and community leaders describe the new headquarters as more than a building swap. Fox 59 reports the site will be more centrally located within IMPD's patrol district and accessible to major northeast side thoroughfares, sitting along the East 38th Street corridor, which already includes the completed Purple Line and ongoing YMCA construction, as well as development in the Meadows area near Keystone Avenue.
Ashley Landrum said the project is intended to create economic opportunity and neighborhood legacy, and separately said the site could spur additional growth and community security, according to Fox 59. Annie Smith said the development will improve conditions for residents, neighbors and the whole 38th Street corridor. Pastor Brian Shobe framed the shift in terms of community policing, saying it involves police engaging and working directly with the community, while Ron Gibson said the headquarters could convene discussions about public safety and economic development and called it a gamechanger for the area.
Crime Trends Behind the Investment
The new station arrives as department statistics show criminal homicides across Indianapolis dropped nearly 45% between 2021 and 2025, falling from a historic peak of 241 to 133, according to WFYI. Public safety data cited by the Indy Public Safety Foundation shows nonfatal shootings citywide dropped 44% following the 2021 launch of the Indy Peace Fellowship, a community-based violence intervention program that provides intensive life coaching and wraparound services in high-risk corridors. IMPD leadership attributes the broader decline to data-driven hot-spot policing paired with community violence intervention work. The new North District headquarters will include added community meeting space.
Questions remain about the exact construction timeline following the April demolition contract at the site, and how the new headquarters will coordinate with ongoing East 38th Street redevelopment projects. For now, the bond approval clears the path for Indianapolis to finally give North District officers, and their neighbors, a building built for the job.
