Monthly public safety meeting addresses gangs, gunfire

About ten residents met with Boston Police Department (BPD) community service officer Jorge Dias at Monday night's public safety meeting at District 4 headquarters, 650 Harrison Avenue, to discuss recent police activity and to share their own safety concerns. Officer Dias offered insights into neighborhood gang rivalries, the difficulty of rooting out problem residents, the challenges officers face due to nationwide tension between police and people of color and community partnerships that help police to fight crime.

Dias offered a crime log for the month detailing burglaries, thefts from cars and aggravated assaults and a "shots fired" report including incidents on July 4 on Harrison Avenue, July 9 at 52 San Juan Street and on July 11 at 42 Harrison archways at the Cathedral, now Ruth Lillian Barkley Apartments.

Only the July 4 incident was an actual shooting. In the San Juan Street incident, members of the Cathedral gang approached youths sitting on San Juan Street and asked if they were from Villa Victoria. The seated youths did not answer and the suspects fired then fled, two males shouting, "We're from Cathedral." Dias said he expects retaliation.

Regarding the Harrison archways shooting, Dias reported that the last two shots-fired at the Harrison archways occurred at the time of the BPD's shift change. A female resident asked about Festival Betances and Dias replied, "It was great. We only had one arrest and it was late on Saturday night." The arrest involved a man who had previously served 10 years for manslaughter and was arrested on a firearms charge, and it took place after the festival had ended for the evening.

Dias also addressed the challenges posed when residents of local housing complexes engage in drugs, gangs and other illicit activities, noting that it is very difficult to evict residents of Boston Housing Authority (BHA) properties, with BHA transferring problem tenants to another property rather than removing them from the system. Privately owned affordable residences and the private, non-profit IBA (Inquilinos Boricuas en Acción) which owns Villa Victoria have more leeway to evict tenants who engage in illicit activities or harbor guests who do so.

Dias recalled the more than three year process to evict a woman who lived at BHA-owned 625 Shawmut Avenue and whose apartment was the scene of shootings and stabbings. Dias sees hope in the fact that BHA is selling many of its properties, including the Lenox Street complex which was purchased by Beacon Properties and over 140 West Newton and Rutland Street units which are being redeveloped by IBA. "I think you are going to see some good changes," Dias said. He is also encouraged by the recent eviction of an East Brookline Street resident whose address has long been known to BPD for illegal activity. "That's going to be huge for us," he said.


Dias and residents exchanged ideas on the root cause of youth crime. A longtime resident observed that youth with learning disabilities can fall through the educational cracks and drift into criminal activity, while youngsters with drug-addicted or incarcerated parents are at risk for crime and violence. Dias spoke with sad frustration of the young man who was arrested at Festival Betances. As a teen, the young man impressed BPD officers by asking thoughtful questions during crime-prevention programs. The teen ran afoul of the law when he was with a friend who fatally shot another youth and declined to testify against his friend. The teen was sentenced to ten years in prison for manslaughter. He pursued an education in prison and after release, became a valuable resource to the BPD, speaking to youth as a peer in crime-prevention programs. The young man's recent social media posts drew the BPD's attention, and his arrest after Festival Betances came as a disappointment but not a total surprise to officers.

Dias also outlined some of the challenges officers face in trying to do their jobs safely and effectively. "We are trying to do what we can with the limits they provide us with. You have to understand that with this whole "war on police", officers can be hesitant," Dias said, explaining that with the universality of cell-phone cameras, officers worry about their words coming under intense scrutiny. He recalled a recent visit to a woman who was reported for not returning her child to his father. When Dias and his partner explained why they were there, the woman pulled out her cell phone camera and said, "Say that again?" so that she could record them. He told the woman he would write a report that would be available at District 4 and left. "You just have to end conversation because you are being recorded. If you say anything that comes across as politically incorrect, you are facing backlash."

Dias also commented on body cameras, which BPD will deploy in a trial program on a voluntary basis. Dias voiced reservations that wearing a body camera could be detrimental to him as a community service officer who focuses on relationship-building. "A body camera for a guy like me ends my career. I'm the guy who walks through the neighborhood and has conversations with people about things they don't want to talk about. They tell me about stuff that's off the record and they know I can try to help them with but people are not going to want to talk to me with a camera on." He added, "Like the commissioner said, we have $5 million that is going to be invested in the cameras to monitor and install them, but when all is said and done, that is $5 million that we don't have to create programs to help kids and prevent future gang members."

One man asked Dias, "Do you think things have gotten worse or better with all the good work you do?" Dias responded, "I think it has gotten worse. What's affecting all of us is that nobody knows what is going to go on in this country. What we do well as a city is we stay focused on ourselves. I don't think we look outside and say 'What happened in Baton Rouge, what happened in Dallas.' I don't mind talking about race, but if you are a white police officer working in some of the black neighborhoods, you may be thinking 'Am I going to be shot and killed' or 'Am I going to be violating somebody's rights by doing my job? A lot of guys who work in Roxbury, Dorchester and Mattapan love working there but the media have made it hard for them because the media have portrayed them as the bad guys." On the up side, Dias said that BPD has good relationships with many of the armed security guards, "The Boston Police have a lot of people supporting us," he said. Dias praised Longwood Security on the firearms arrest after Festival Betances. "That was a key arrest. It was a very good arrest on Longwood's part and it shows that the partnership really works." Dias also acknowledged community cooperation, adding, "The residents do the same and we really appreciate that."

Dias told the group that BPD officers share their frustration and aggravation over violence in the community, the ongoing tensions between the Villa Victoria and Cathedral, now the Barkley Apartments, gangs. Dias also reported that most of the gang members no longer live at Cathedral, and some members of both gangs live off-site and are mature adults up to 40 years old.

Nevertheless, the violent rivalry evokes fear, even for Dias. "I have two sons who live in the Villa and who work at nightclubs and come home late at night. They love it and it's a wonderful place, but when my phone goes off the hook at 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning because shots were fired, I have to call them to make sure they are okay." Dias expressed optimism despite the difficulties. "There's not a defeatist attitude. We get frustrated dealing with the courts, dealing with BHA, dealing with people who aren't helping us but we move forward every day. We just have to get more creative."