By Cyndi Roy
STATE HOUSE NEWS SERVICE

STATE HOUSE, BOSTON- Hoping to address the gang problems
facing many of the state’s urban communities, a group of state and local officials today called on lawmakers to implement a slate of public safety initiatives outlined in a new report.
The 25-page report authored by members of the former Joint Committee on Public Safety calls on lawmakers and the Romney administration to
strengthen witness protection and gun laws, boost community policing in
affected areas, and direct resources to encourage community partnerships between law enforcement and neighborhoods.
“No one in Massachusetts should ever feel afraid to walk down their street or play in their neighborhood park," said Sen. Jarrett Barrios, co-chairman of the committee. “It's time for a revitalized statewide focus on putting a stop to gang violence that threatens the safety of our neighborhoods.”

The report is the result of a year’s worth of discussions about gang
violence that culminated in a five hour Beacon Hill forum last September. Several urban cities including Boston, Springfield, Somerville and New Bedford experienced a string of violence and homicides last summer, ending with a series of shootouts that claimed the lives of several young people. Much of that, public safety officials say, was attributable to gang violence.

Among the recommendations in the report is the establishment of a statewide witness protection program and stiffer penalties for witness intimidation. Nearly 90 percent of cases involving gangs are affected by witness intimidation, Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel Conley told reporters in the Senate Reading Room.
Lt. Gov. Kerry Healey also called for stronger witness protection, and said she will propose legislation later this year that addresses the issue.

“Intimidation by gang members makes a mockery of our criminal justice
system,” she said.

To further protect witnesses, the report also recommends the Legislature pass legislation to punish individuals who use a grand jury transcript to interfere with a criminal trial; adopt the less-restrictive federal standard for perjury; and allow the courts to apply a “stay-away” order as a condition for bail.

Another facet of curbing gang activity is giving police the tools they need to stop violence in the affected communities. The report calls on the Legislature to increase its community policing block grant by at least $4 million, and target those additional funds towards communities that demonstrate they have been targeted by gang violence. To receive the money, communities would have to submit a plan for combating gang violence collaboratively by city officials, police, and community groups.

It also recommends legislation increasing the penalties for illegally
transferring firearms to discourage “community guns” passed on from one gang member to another. The third component of the anti-gang plan involves community-outreach, a piece Rev. Ray Hammond said is key.

“We learned in the early 1990s, while the challenges change and the
programs change, the principals remain the same,” he said. “We have to be willing to get out of the blame game and start talking about responsibility.”

The report suggests the establishment of a state-funded competitive grant program that targets high-impact communities; pilot youth summer programs; and Safe School plans that lay out consequences for bullying.

New Bedford Mayor Frederick Kalisz said he hoped lawmakers would use the report to begin addressing gang violence as a statewide issue. According to Kalisz, there were seven homicides in the city last year and 11 the year before.

“Five years ago, three would have been a lot,” he said. “While this
legislation is pertinent to New Bedford, it is certainly pertinent to
communities across the Commonwealth dealing with these issues, yes, on a daily basis,” he said.