While 2005 saw record crime rates in Boston — with reaching a 10-year high at 73 homicides — 2006 is poised to end an even bloodier year, plagued with 70 homicides as of the beginning of December compared to 66 during the same time frame last year, according to Boston Police records.
Throughout the year, Boston officials have worked to combat crime rates by monitoring gun violence, increasing the number of officers patrolling the streets and appointing former Lowell Police Superintendent Edward Davis to head the Boston Police Department, stirring optimism in residents and authorities with his vision of creating stronger bonds between the police and citizens.
Despite the high acclaim for Davis, who was sworn into his new position Dec. 4, he will have plenty on his plate.
From January to July 2006, 41 homicides were committed in the city — up nearly 14 percent from 36 homicides during the same period in 2005, according to the BPD website.
There were 73 homicides in all of 2005, up 46 percent from 39 in 2003.
The unrelenting crime levels have inspired the Mayor’s Office and the City Council to propose some of the more creative methods of combating violence than seen in years past.
In March, Mayor Thomas Menino unveiled plans for trauma counseling for those affected by violence, and in December 2005 he banned “Stop Snitching” t-shirts that encouraged gang members to keep mum after witnessing a crime. Meanwhile, the City Council has considered measures such as installing a gunshot detection system in at-risk neighborhoods in March and banning certain assault weapons in the city in April.
On Sept. 3, Menino and Acting Police Commissioner Albert Goslin promoted 38 police officers to the ranks of captain, lieutenant and sergeant at Cathedral High School in Boston.
Yesterday, the Boston City Council held its second hearing on street violence in two years, inviting community members, local organizations and city leaders to discuss their experiences with violence. More than 75 people attended, witnessing emotional pleas to curb violence in the city.
The hearing, chaired by City Councilor Michael Ross (Back Bay, Fenway), allowed 17-year-old Hector Pizarro of Dorchester to speak to the crowd. At the podium, he instructed everyone in the audience to stand up if they loved their mother. The room rose together.
“So, imagine if you have to see your mom pick out your little brother’s or your little sister’s last clothes to wear in the casket,” he told the crowd.
“You love your mamma, and you don’t want to see her cry because you love her,” he said. “Do you know how hard that is for a mother to bury her kids? To say goodbye, to say her last ‘I love you,’ to walk around the house thinking they’re there and calling their names?”
A recent study conducted by the Harvard Youth Violence Prevention Center surveyed 1,100 public high school students in Boston and found that nearly 21 percent did not feel safe at school. The study also found that in 2005, 8 percent of those who had responded said they had carried a weapon onto school property.
“Harvard School surveyed Boston youth, and 41 percent said it was easy to get a gun,” Ross said. “People are dying and the perspective is out there — we aren’t doing enough.”
Seventeen-year-old Shane Bass of Dorchester, another speaker at the hearing, said he lost a friend to gun violence each week for four consecutive weeks this year. Although the crime rate has decreased 27 percent since July, he said he still feels unsafe in the city.
Bass said a friend, Hakeen Norton, was killed on Nov. 7.
“He was like a brother to me,” Bass said. “We grew up from the age of 4. We went to the same middle school.”
Bass said he has been working as a community organizer for the past four years trying to curb the violence, but he admitted the job has worn on him emotionally, adding that Norton was shot directly across the street from where he works.
“I work from 4 to 8:30 p.m. every day, which means right now. With the season, it gets dark around 4 or 5,” he said. “I have to walk through a parking lot to get home . . . I have to watch my back because I never know when it could be my turn.”
At the hearing, BPD officers said they plan to monitor MBTA hotspots at school dismissal times to help curb violence.
Mike Kozu, a community coordinator for Project Right Inc., said in his speech that he believes much of the violence stems from cuts in alternative programs.
“When you have substantial cuts that take place regarding public funding to alternative programs, and the general economic climate makes it difficult in general for teenagers and young adults to get jobs, you’re going to see a rise in violence,” Kozu said.
Kozu said that last summer, the city held a gun buy-back program, which allowed people to anonymously turn in firearms. In return, they received $200 Target gift certificates.
The city took 1,000 guns off the street, Kozu said, adding that his organization worked with Boston officials on this effort. He added that more programs like this are needed.
“We need to keep youth engaged,” Kozu said. “If you don’t keep them engaged, if we cut back what’s available after school time, it’s a recipe for a problem.”
At an Oct. 18 City Council meeting, Councilor James Kelly (Roxbury, South Boston) addressed recent school shootings throughout the country and the surge in violence and its implications in Boston.
“What is going on is insane,” he said, calling on the Council to take more “effective actions” in terms of minimizing threats to the Boston area.
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