Police Commissioner William Evans said a gun buyback program and stepped up anti-gun efforts on the street are working: Boston Police are taking lots of guns out of circulation, 970 so far this year, compared to 667 in all of 2013.
But at a public meeting last night about a shooting in Lower Mills on Election Day, Evans said the extra work is like pushing back the tide: Guns keep coming into Boston from states where it's really easy to buy guns, such as Florida and the Carolinas.
Still, Evans said the anti-gun effort may be having an impact. Across the city, shootings are down this year - the latest BPD stats show 187 shootings compared to 222 in the same period last year. He said this comes despite an increase in shootings in East Boston and the district that covers downtown, the North End and Chinatown - because shootings in Dorchester, Roxbury and Mattapan have gone down significantly.
Evans added that gang-related shootings are down, although he added that domestic shootings appear on the increase. He said that one troubling trend is that the shooters seem to be getting younger - it's no longer just older teens and men in their 20s who are going around shooting up neighborhoods. "Unfortunately, a lot of young kids have guns," he said, adding he was talking about kids as young as 13.
The commissioner agreed with city councilors Ayanna Pressley (at large) and Charles Yancey (Dorchester), who also attended the meeting - called by state Sen. Linda Dorcena Forry and state Rep. Dan Cullinane - that police work alone will not dampen gun violence: The city needs to work harder to prevent kids from getting into guns to begin with.
Evans pointed to the success of a program this past summer, in which Mayor Walsh worked with the IBEW on a training program for 15 or 16 teens with violent records. All but one graduated the program and now have good jobs, he said.
Evans expressed frustration with the court system. He said too often, police arrest somebody on a gun charge who was out on bail on a gun charge.
He noted approvingly that London, which has a very low gun-violence rate, has a mandatory five-year sentence for gun convictions. Here, he said, too many kids see our 18-month sentence as "almost like a badge of courage."
"It's frustrating for us, we're getting the same kids all the time," he said, estimating that 5% of the teens and young adults in the city are causing 70% of the problems.
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Comments
Are you familiar with the
By lbb
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 9:20pm
Are you familiar with the phrase "necessary but not sufficient condition"? A certification is a credential, and that's all. Any hiring manager knows that when it comes to finding someone who can actually do the job, it doesn't really tell you anything. A certification course is not enough to equip someone to go out and get a job. You need to do more than that.
And don't call me "bud", son.
okay
By cybah
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 9:48pm
Yes well aware of that. But unfortunately these days you deal with silly recruiters who are idiots.
really? a certification doesn't equip you to go out and get a job? Well yeah in terms of job searching skills (i.e. resumes, searching, interviewing), sure, they aren't provided in a certification course. Duh. I wouldn't expect them to be. Other courses would serve that purpose. But what certs do is make someone look better on that resume. A heck of a lot more than someone starting out with no degree and no experience. Many entry level positions just require a MCP or above now. And any entry level IT job is far better (and probably pays a bit more) than most retail and food service jobs. That's one of the main points of these programs.
Plus the other point of these programs isn't just so people can get jobs (although its the main idea), is to get kids interested in something else that doesn't involve drugs or gangs. Many kids who go to these program don't have much else going on, and a grim future. Many gangs pray on this fear. These Voc Ed programs shows them that, yes, there "within reach" alternatives to gangs and drugs. The hope is that this just sets them on the right path, to either more training, college, or to join the workforce to be productive citizens.
PS - You also doubt if certification courses provide jobs. If we remove the IT certs we are arguing about. I say absolutely yes it does. I can't believe I forgot the cornerstone of my HS's voc ed program.. a CNA program. Sure a CNA is a sucky job. But it pays more than retail, and I read in the local paper a few months ago that most graduates of the program eventually get jobs and/or get more training to a LPN and then eventually a RN. Do you know how relatives and friends of mine (that all attended the Voc)? More than I can count. I have four RNs in my family so far.. and more finishing up the RN.
Getting on the right path.. think about it, dad.
"think about it, dad."
By lbb
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 8:55am
Oh, another cheap shit-stirring swipe? Now, see, right there you disqualified yourself from having anything to say about what keeps people out of trouble. Think about it.
Listen
By cybah
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 3:17pm
Listen a-hole.. want to talk about "Cheap Shit-Stirring Swipe"?
Didn't you say above:
You started it first. I just dish it back. Fair Play.
PS Love how you had absolutely nothing else to say except a pot shot at me. Wanna run the
by me again because you're just did it yourself. I also think you know I'm right.. hard for an old fart like yourself to admit they are 100% wrong. *hiss*
PPS - I know what its like. I *was* one of those kids.. it was a VOC program that saved me. Once again, folks on here making big assumptions about me when they really have no clue. Thanks for playing... it's been fun.
Calling him "bud" was the start....
By Michael Kerpan
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 3:39pm
... a pretty rude and dismissive term of address.
Really?
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 1:35pm
Hanging out with your gangbanger buddies in the big house for a year, probably less, is seen as a rite of passage. Going away for at least five years, on the other hand, is a major inconvenience at the very least, and will deter all but the most hardened gangbangers. Also, it costs around $300,000 on average to treat a gunshot victim, and $30,000 to lock a thug up for a year - do the math...
Err, the relationship between
By Eric
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 11:33pm
Err, the relationship between sentence length and deterrence of crime is basically nonexistent. Certainly not something that has been supported by real data. In order for a punishment to be an effective deterrent, the criminal must first actually care about their future and believe that they have a chance at a future.
Also, what do you think happens to someone who had zero qualifications other than being a gangster to begin with gets out of jail after 5 years?
He noted approvingly that
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 10:43am
He noted approvingly that London, which has a very low gun-violence rate, has a mandatory five-year sentence for gun convictions. Here, he said, too many kids see our 18-month sentence as "almost like a badge of courage."
I'd say make it 10!
Um the UK has a MUCH higher
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 10:58am
Um the UK has a MUCH higher rate of violent crime than the US. The number of knife related crimes in London alone is staggering.
Take your pick
By stevil nli
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:47am
Between getting stabbed or shot I'll take stabbed. Also hard to stab long distance and hard to stab 2+ people before someone beats the cap out of you. Gimme knives over guns any day. Stupid argument.
How about a knife hand-in event?
By Boston_res
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 12:10pm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/wales/7732187.stm
Misleading comparison
By FredQuimby
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:53am
The British definition of violent crime includes all crimes against the person, including all robberies, simple assaults and all sexual offenses, as opposed to the USA which only counts forcible rape and aggravated assault.
Its a bit like saying the obesity rate in Canada is higher than the USA when anyone 10 pounds over weight is obese in Canada but the clinical definition is 100 pounds over weight in the USA.
Does it now?
By Scratchie
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:51am
http://blog.skepticallibertarian.com/2013/01/12/fa...
I would also point out that even while urban crime rates across the US have been falling for decades, New York City's homicide rate (as of 2009) was 3.5 times that of London, which is presumably more of an apples-to-apples comparison.
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2012/nov/...
Councilors
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:20am
Frank Baker (who was also at the meeting) is the Dorchester district councilor, Yancey represents Mattapan and parts of Roxbury and Hyde Park.
Part of Roslindale, actually
By adamg
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:50am
Not Hyde Park, and only part of Mattapan. A good part of his district is still in Dorchester.
Charles Yancey does not
By DotWatcher
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 1:30pm
Charles Yancey does not represent Roxbury or HP— and he only has a small piece of Mattapan now, something he'll tell you he is not happy about. Yancey mainly represents Dorchester, where he lives and has lived for four decades. People who call him the councilor from Mattapan show their ignorance— he's never lived there.
Doesn't anything good ever
By tcf098
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:22am
Doesn't anything good ever come out of Florida?
Can we please finally be done with it and sell it to Cuba?
Great news
By JohnAKeith
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:32am
That's great news about the guns.
No one asked him about the 25% increase in homicides this year, though?
Did you even read the article
By datadyne007
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 11:40am
Did you even read the article Adam wrote?
The meeting was not a success!
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 12:32pm
I was there any many people left shaking their heads when the police brass and politicians couldn't handle simple questions about safety at Ashmont station and Dorchester park. The Dorchester Reporter in an article today reports on the frustrations of many who attended.
Reporter account
By adamg
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 12:36pm
Here. The Dorchester Park issue was interesting - woman complains police never come when she calls, captain got kind of irate.
Thanks for mentioning it. I obviously went for the citywide stuff, but, yes, the main point of the meeting was the very specific incident in Lower Mills.
So,
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 2:03pm
I can threaten society with violence unless they give me a job? And there are people who think it's cool to give in to this blackmail? Or if I'm having trouble getting a job, I can just commit crimes, get arrested, or become or claim I'm an alcoholic and/or druggie, and there are programs in place that would give me special status, putting me ahead in the line, compared to the non-criminal, no-druggie chump looking for work? This is awesome!
No, that's not what happens
By adamg
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 4:54pm
These kids aren't "threatening society with violence" to get a job. They're threatening society with violence to make money, because they think it's cool, because they're subject to rather vicious peer pressure, whatever. A legitimate job is the last thing on their minds.
If an actual job can switch them off that path, what is wrong with that? I'm going to assume most of the people reading this are Christian, and I thought the idea of redemption was supposed to be kind of a big deal with you folks, but what I'm hearing is there are a lot of people who refuse to believe other people can ever change. The more's the pity.
So why don't you try it out yourself?
By lbb
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 9:21pm
Do report back on how that works for you. Or, alternately, admit that you're blowing crap.
New Methods
By speakingouthere
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 2:08pm
We need Road Check Points, random screening for weapons at Bus Terminals, Train Stations, Airfields, Shipyards, and Van Shuttles that come from areas where guns/drugs are known to be smuggled into MA.
Police do Sobriety checkpoints. Why not for weapons?
Laws can be made, no need for ACLU screaming unfair. Too many lives are being lost.
We need to try new methods to get these weapons before they enter our state!
From South-North to New York to Massachusetts!
Excerpt 5/22/14-When Brooklyn District Attorney Kenneth Thompson put out a 558-count indictment against six firearms traffickers who conspired to sell illegal guns here, all 155 of the weapons recovered by the NYPD came from one place: Georgia.
If you think you’ve heard this story before, you have. Last September, Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. indicted an individual who had illegally trafficked a huge stockpile of guns — via the post office — here from Georgia.
As good as the NYPD is at tracking illegal weapons, it’s impossible to catch everyone. The stark reality is that 90% of all crime-related guns recovered in New York City come from out of state. The illegal firearms that flow north on the so-called Iron Pipeline from states like Georgia with lax gun laws routinely end up in the hands of criminals here — all too often, with deadly results.
Anybody asking why a gun trafficker in Brooklyn buys product 940 miles away in LaGrange, Ga., should look no further than that state’s gun laws — or, more accurately, the lack thereof.
http://m.nydailynews.com/opinion/death-rides-iron-...
or we could not trash the 4th
By wanker
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 6:25pm
or we could not trash the 4th amendment
Sure, why not
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 6:53pm
Universal background check, at least six months between gun purchases, maximum 10 round magazine capacity, and mandatory 25 years in prison for gun trafficking - sounds good to you?
BUT...
Also 5 years minimum for illegal firearm possession, 15 years minimum for any crime committed while in possession of illegal firearm, and nationwide stop and frisk to do away with all the cutesy "illegal search" bullshit that lets 9 out of 10 thugs easily beat gun charges - sounds good to you? Gun control AND goon control, can't have one without the other.
Need thug control not gun control. ENFORCE BARTLEY FOX!
By anon
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 8:23pm
MA already has universal background checks, a 10 round limit on everything made after 1994, and Bartley Fox which has lengthy mandatory minimums for illegal possession which are never enforced.
The problem with more laws is that not only do they violate the 2nd amendment and as you've proposed the 4th amendment but CRIMINALS DO NOT FOLLOW THEM. The people breaking the law in the first place aren't going to suddenly stop by passing even more laws.
STOP ALLOWING VIOLENT OFFENDERS TO PLEAD OUT OF GUN CHARGES & START ENFORCING BARTLEY FOX.
The people using and trafficking illegal guns are no strangers to police. Stop the catch and release bullshit and the problem will go away.
Bartley-Fox
By anon
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 9:09am
The Bartley-Fox law is from the 1970s. It was replaced years ago by a new minimum mandatory of 18 months (where B-F was a year) for carrying on the street. This is enforced. In fact it can't be reduced. Everyone, yes every single person, convicted of carrying a gun without a license does at least that. I know it goes against the mantra that all these cases are plea-bargained away, but it does not happen. If you disagree then point to one, just one case, of a person convicted of carrying outside their house who didn't do at least a year and a half.
Also, the right to plead guilty or go to trial is the defendant's and not the government's. You can't prevent someone from admitting that they did the crime they're accused of. And, I mean, why would you want to?
Hmm
By polarbare
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 9:49am
If there is a "mandatory 18 months" for carrying, why was this person allowed to walk without even setting bail?
http://www.universalhub.com/crime/20110306-da-viol...
I understand that he hadn't been tried and convicted yet, but there is clearly a problem in MA with gang bangers and others with illegal firearms getting a slap on the wrist.
Why Indeed
By anon
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 10:12am
Well it looks like you just answered your own question there. Are there any other people you would like to see people sentenced without trials, or just "gang bangers?"
Not asking for anyone
By polarbare
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 12:30pm
I'm making a point about the letter of the law versus its application.
Yes But
By anon
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 12:44pm
Letter and application are consistent here. You can't be sentenced unless you're convicted, and you can't be convicted without a trial (or pleading guilty). Complain about low bail if you like, but if you're actually concerned with liberty why would you suggest that something is wrong when a person isn't sentenced for a crime that no one's proved he committed?
State Laws....
By Rob O
Tue, 11/11/2014 - 7:49pm
What I take away is that stricter state gun laws are not going to solve our problems. I'm a supporter of the right to own guns and also troubled by the availability of guns to those who shouldn't have them. Even stricter (hard to imagine in the City of Boston) gun laws are not going to make the necessary difference if you can drive a car across the state border with a load of guns in the trunk. If we don't make gun control a matter of national law, I don't see how we make the necessary changes.
Gun violence
By polarbare
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 9:46am
is a socioeconomic issue. That's why here in the 'burbs I have 2 gun stores within walking distance of my house (including a class III dealer) and a dozen guns in my safe, and yet there hasn't been a shooting in my town since at least 2004 from what I can tell. If you get people out of poverty and stop glorifying gang life the gun violence issues will sort themselves out.
There are thousands of legally owned guns in the Wellesley, Weston, Newton, Natick, Wayland area but basically no gun crimes. If guns themselves are the issue, than there wouldn't be the disparity in gun crime levels that we see. People need to stop making a socioeconomic issue into a "gun" issue- politicians and anti-gunners do it because "ban guns!" is easier than actually doing something that will fix the issues at hand.
Not exactly a huge Swirly fan, but since she actually did something that was a MEANINGFUL solution to the gang/gun problem, good on her.
I don't think these are
By Eric
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 11:46pm
I don't think these are really either-or things. Solving the problems of poverty is surely a worthwhile goal, but even if we started down all of the right roads *right now*, the real improvements in the numbers would still be almost a generation away. Addressing the gun trafficking issue would reduce homicides *today*.
Illegal gun accessibility
By Deirdre Murphy
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 11:34am
Although anecdotal, I have been told by several young men that would know, if i were to hand them $100 and give them a half hour, they could purchase and bring home a gun. Scary stuff.
I believe you
By speakingouthere
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 7:17pm
I could do the same here North of Boston.
LTC Restrictions
By Bob
Wed, 11/12/2014 - 12:35pm
Dear Mr. Evans (and previously Ed Davis), why do you consistently put Target and Hunting restrictions on law abiding Bostonians who wish to get a License to Carry? There are those of us with squeaky clean records, evidence and certification of prior training, and we already have to show our marksmanship at your police range on Moon Island in front of your officers. It is insulting that you'd turn around and completely disregard our second amendment rights by disallowing an unrestricted License to Carry, which most,if not nearly all other MA towns issue. The fact that you don't trust law abiding citizens shows that YOU Mr. Evans only want the criminals and your police force to be armed, and no one else. It's too bad your position can't be voted out and replaced with someone who respects the rights of law abiding residents of Boston.
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