As Boston reels from a spike in deadly violence — at least 18 people have been murdered in the city this year — residents of gang-ridden neighborhoods continue to seek guidance and solutions from their elected officials.
With daily shootings dominating the headlines — so severe they prompted the Guardian Angels to return to Boston to unofficially supplement police patrols — city councilors have grappled with tragedies that are tearing some of their communities apart.
Councilor Jerry McDermott (Allston-Brighton) has decried the violence and urged the Council to deter criminals, forewarning on March 28 that, “There will be more blood on the streets this summer if we don’t get in their minds.”
Earlier this month, Gov. Deval Patrick proposed a package of bills aimed at curbing violence, including toughening penalties for carrying a gun while committing a violent crime, even if the gun is not used. He also called for bolstering supervision of ex-convicts and providing more support for criminals reentering society from prison. Patrick made the announcement alongside Mayor Thomas Menino, who has expressed strong support for the plans.
The Council devoted time to specifically address crime among female residents, advocating for an increase in extracurricular activities to keep young girls out of trouble.
“If a young lady is involved in sports, [she] will be safer, more productive and will statistically succeed in life,” said Councilor Michael Ross (Back Bay, Fenway), chair of the Committee on Youth Violent Crime Prevention, at a March meeting.
The Council faced a rocky beginning to 2007, which began when a guerrilla ad campaign stoked terrorism fears in Boston and made national headlines. As a result, the Council considered tightening the city’s approach to licensing ads in public space.
The January fiasco began when electronic placards depicting characters from Cartoon Network’s “Aqua Teen Hunger Force” were misinterpreted as explosives and sparked a citywide panic. Police quickly deemed the devices harmless, and Turner Broadcasting, the parent company of Cartoon Network and sponsor of the ad campaign, admitted blame and paid $2 million to the city.
Councilors stood behind local law enforcement agencies and Menino in defending the city’s response in shutting down roads and public transportation, placing the blame with the advertising agency for not notifying the city beforehand.
“[Boston forces] responded appropriately as to something they thought was a bomb in the city,” said Jerome Smith, chief of staff to Ross. “If they would have just worked with the city, it would have been a completely different situation.”
In the days following the guerrilla marketing fiasco, a second guerrilla ad campaign went awry when Dr. Pepper launched a citywide scavenger hunt that ended in the Granary Burial Ground. Officials feared contestants would desecrate historic properties as they searched for hidden objects.
Council President Maureen Feeney (Dorchester, Harbor Island) has called for a review of marketing tactics in Boston to prevent situations between companies in which “everyone’s trying to outdo the last person.”
The Council held a hearing on late-night parties and their penchant for sparking violence, such as one after-party shooting in March that left a Kentucky visitor dead in Dorchester. Councilors held a hearing April 17 and will hold another this summer to address calls police receive about “problem parties.”
In an unusual step, the Council also backed naming the city’s first poet laureate, whose meter, they claim, could potentially help quell violence.
Councilor John Tobin (Jamaica Plain, West Roxbury) said he was surprised Boston does not already have such a position, given its extensive literary history.
“The hope is to get a search committee established by hopefully the early fall, so that a poet laureate can be selected by the end of the year and sworn in or around the first of the year,” Tobin legislative aide Seth Donlin said.
Councilors faced sharp criticism for devoting their time to finding a poet laureate while crime was soaring, but in a letter to The Boston Globe, Councilor-at-Large Sam Yoon wrote, “Fighting crime and promoting the arts are not mutually exclusive. Perhaps more investment in promoting the arts will encourage young people to pick up a brush, a pen or a pile of clay, rather than a gun.”