MAJOR ACCOMPLISHMENTS 2004-2006

Edward F. Davis was appointed Boston Police Commissioner in December 2006.  He previously served as the Superintendent of Police in Lowell, Massachusetts, the Commonwealth’s fourth largest city.  During Davis’s tenure in Lowell, crime there fell 60%, spurring significant economic development.  At the time of his appointment, Davis vowed to make gun violence his top priority, and reaffirmed his commitment to community policing, especially in the Boston neighborhoods most impacted by crime and violence.

In 2005, the Boston Police Department reached the highest level of diversity in its history.  That year, 36% of the department’s personnel were African-American, Hispanic or Asian, compared to 2004 when 34.5% of the department was non-white.  To strengthening community and police relations it is essential to have a department that reflects the community it serves and employs officers who are able to communicate with citizens in their native language.

The Summer Safety Funding Collaborative was launched in June 2006.  Funded by the Boston Foundation, the United Way of Massachusetts Bay and other Boston-area funders, the Collaborative announced a total of $500,000 in grants to be awarded to community-based groups and institutions to expand the number of hours and quality of youth programs available over the summer months to serve at-risk teens in Boston.    

The Executive Office of Public Safety (EPOS) launched a $1.4 million effort to better understand racial profiling by law enforcement personnel.  EPOS ordered 247 Massachusetts police departments to collect data for one year at all traffic stops, recording the driver’s race or ethnicity and the reason for the stop.  The Boston Police Department began to collect data in February 2006.  Northeastern University’s Institute on Race and Justice also conducted the racial profiling.

In 2006, the Department of Homeland Security gave Boston and its surrounding suburbs the second-highest ratingin emergency communications preparedness in the event of a major disaster.  The three areas reviewed were: the strategic plan to link emergency services across different jurisdictions; standard emergency response policies and procedures; and training exercises to simulate emergency conditions.

New Boston Police Department programs and partnerships and the expansion of proven models helped to prevent or solve violence and crime:

• In 2005, Mayor Thomas M. Menino initiated B-SMART (Boston’s Strategic Multi-Agency Response Teams), a program aimed at integrating the efforts of the Boston Police Department, Human Services, and other City departments with those of community partners and faith-based organizations to identify the most pressing needs of each neighborhood. The collaborative teams meet weekly in targeted neighborhoods to respond to needs, with localized initiatives and activities that address concerns as they surface.
• The Boston Police Department launched the Boston Regional Intelligence Center (BRIC).The Center integrates the intelligence capabilities of City, state and federal law enforcement agencies. Civilian crime analysts work with police detectives to identify, analyze and disseminate information regarding crime trends and perpetrators. In addition, BRIC publishes updated weekly crime statistics.
• The BPD expanded Citizen Observer Program, the Boston Police Alert Network, to include all 11 Boston Police Districts.Through the Citizen Observer, community members are able to join the Citizen Alert Network and receive updates on crimes and emergencies. Information on fugitives, missing persons and unsolved cases is provided, along with a “Submit a Tip” feature that allows residents to contact police with tips and other information.
• Same Cop/Same Neighborhood (SC/SN) is a cornerstone of the delivery of public safety services to every neighborhood in Boston.Under SC/SN, the same officers are assigned to a neighborhood, and spend no less than 60% of their shift in that designated area. The intent of SC/SN is to encourage officers to do more street level problem-solving. As a result, officers develop partnerships—attending community meetings and participating in neighborhood activities and events.
• The Safe Neighborhood Initiative (SNI), a collaborative effort of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office and the Boston Police Department, was expanded to a fifth location in Dorchester’s Uphams Corner-Dudley Street neighborhood. This community-based prosecution and development program has proven successful nationally in bringing together prosecutors, police, city officials, local business and community and religious leaders to resolve public safety problems and remove and prosecute violent offenders.
• Mayor Thomas M.Menino joined Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York and other US Mayors in calling for tougher US policies on controlling the availability of guns. 

The Boston Police Department (BPD) made a record number of gun arrests and new initiatives sought to confront the rising prevalence of guns on City streets.

• As part of Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN), a nationwide initiative to combat gun crime, Northeastern University’s Institute on Race and Justice and College of Criminal Justice collaborated with Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government and the US Attorney’s Officeas research partners to support local law enforcement efforts to address gun crime. Participating agencies were assisted with data gathering and analysis, including gang-member databases, street-level data, and crime mapping. Information collected from participating agencies is summarized into reports to provide overviews for agency planners and inform sound policy. 
• The BPD’s officers and investigators made a record number of gun arrests in 2005. There were 754 such arrests, an increase of 39% from 2004. Officers also seized 797 firearms, a 35% increase from the previous year.
• In November 2005, the Boston Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives launched the Firearms Investigation Center (FIC) at Boston Police Headquarters. The FIC’s mission is to aggressively pursue criminals who buy and sell illegal firearms.
• From June to July 2006, the City of Boston conducted a month-long gun buy-back program.Former Acting Police Commissioner Al Goslin reported that 1,000 weapons were recovered, including some high-powered semi-automatics. Citizens who participated in the “no questions asked” program received $200 Target gift cards.

New policies, legislation and court rulings promoted more rapid and effective prosecution of gun and gang-related cases.

• The Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office and state judicial officials instituted a rapid gun indictment policy. As a result, evidence in gun cases is being presented to a Grand Jury in days rather than weeks. Six months after the institution of the new policy, the District Attorney’s Office indicted more than twice as many gun defendants as in the six months prior to the adoption of the policy.
• In 2006, the Massachusetts Legislature passeda tough new witness intimidation statute designed to address the concerns of victims and witnesses who fear that if they cooperate with police, they or members of their families will be harmed or killed.
• The Supreme Judicial Court ruled that a judge had the right to keep the identities of jurors secret in a gang-related murder trialbecause of the fear of reprisal from gang members. The court said that the safety of jurors is crucial to the functioning of the judicial system.

OTHER DEVELOPMENTS 2004-2006

A survey and study,  Rethinking Justice in Massachusetts: Public Attitudes Toward Crime and Punishment, by the Crime and Justice Institute and Doble Research Associates and funded by the Boston Foundation, explored public attitudes toward sentencing, prison policies, and the community re-entry of ex-offenders. The findings showed that Massachusetts residents: oppose mandatory minimum sentences; want courts to be able to impose mandatory drug treatment rather than mandatory prison sentences for drug offenders; want the state to focus on prevention and rehabilitation rather than longer sentences; support the idea of providing education, job training and substance abuse treatment for inmates and ex-offenders; and would support more state funds for programs shown to reduce recidivism. 

The Department of Correction Advisory Council (DOCAC), established by Executive Order and chaired by former Attorney General Scott Harshbarger, released its final report.  The Council called for critically important changes including classification reform, a state-wide re-entry plan, an independent inspector general and culture change inside the DOC. The DOCAC also provided recommendations regarding female offenders and health and mental health services, and outlined a plan for continued monitoring of the DOC’s reform efforts with periodic updates on 16 performance measures.

In April 2006, the Department of Homeland Security approved the Executive Office of Public Safety’s (EOPS) State Homeland Security Strategy for the Commonwealth. The strategy defines how state government will work in partnership with federal, regional, local, and private sector entities to enhance statewide capabilities to prevent, detect and manage the consequences of terrorism or other critical incidents. EOPS also established a Homeland Security Executive Committee comprised of senior officials from the Commonwealth and a representative of the Boston Urban Area Security Initiative to work with local entities in multi-disciplinary regional consortiums.  

In January 2007, Massachusetts new Governor Deval Patrick was sworn-in and in April announced measures targeting crime including $900,000 in funding, a statewide anticrime council and new restrictions on gun purchases.  The money is intended to speed up the hiring of 60 police officers. The Governor’s initiative would also boost the city’s grant for summer jobs by $350,000, to $2.25 million, an increase of more than 18%.

In January 2007, Mayor Thomas M. Menino established a Strategic Crime Council. The Council is expected to address crime through a “six-pronged approach” which includes: a legislative agenda; the involvement of public health and health care agencies; targeted law enforcement strategies; education and awareness efforts,; community outreach and changes to the judicial system. The members of the council are cabinet level officials from departments such as police, human services, housing, education, recreation and public health who will meet on a weekly basis. The council also plans to bring in external partners such as the sheriff,  Department of Youth Services or probation to discuss issues relevant to those agencies. 

In January 2007, Mayor Thomas M. Menino appointed the members of the citizen review board which was established to independently review allegations of serious misconduct by Boston Police.  The Mayor appointed John O’Brien, Dean at New England Law School, David Hall, former dean and current Professor at Northeastern University Law School, and Ruth Suber, a former Parole Officer, to the three member board.  

In March 2007, the Guardian Angels, a New York based volunteer anti-crime group, began patrolling some Boston neighborhoods.  Some residents said that the patrols gave them an added sense of security. Others thought that effective initiatives to curb violence had to come from local law enforcement and legislators. Curtis Sliwa, the founder of the Guardian Angels met with Mayor Menino, Commissioner Davis and other police officials. Mr. Sliwa said that he was committed to recruiting local patrol members.