YOUTHFUL OFFENDERS GET WAKE UP CALL FROM PROBATION OFFICERS THROUGH "OPERATION ALARM CLOCK"

A group of probationers, some with gang affiliations and/or identified as "High Impact" players by local law enforcement, are receiving an unannounced wake-up call from Dorchester District Court Probation Officers as part of "Operation Alarm Clock," a brand new initiative to crack down on crime at night and rouse offenders out of bed in the morning and into the working world.

"Many of these individuals are out late at night and nothing good usually happens late at night with these guys. They are not working, not in school and they are not showing up for their community service assignments," said Tony Gully, Assistant Chief Probation Officer. "We decided that these individuals need to get up and get in tune with the rest of the world."

Three to five times a week, Gully and a team of Probation Officers do what are called "forceful contacts" with the probationers. The Probation Officers show up unannounced or call the offender on the phone to make sure the individual is attending school, looking for work and/or showing up for community service work ordered by the court. Probation Officers come armed with packets of information on job leads and resource information from job training agencies. "Operation Alarm Clock" was launched in May.

The Probation Officers are focusing on a group of about 600 Youthful Offenders, ages 17 to 23, in the Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan neighborhoods that comprise the court's jurisdiction.

Of the 600 Youthful Offenders, 315 are currently being supervised by a Probation Officer in the community. Approximately 238 or 76 percent of the offenders are being supervised at the maximum level by Probation Officers. Between 15 and 18 percent represent re-entry cases which means the probationers have spent time in jail and were released into the community and placed under the supervision of probation officers. The Dorchester District Court Youthful Offender Unit, comprised of six probation officers, has averaged 11 newly-assigned cases weekly since January 2004, according to Gully. The probationers' offenses range from assault and battery to gun and ammunition to larceny and drug charges.

Gully said he gets full cooperation from the families of this group of mostly young men. "We have mothers and grandmothers leading us to their rooms or calling us up. These are young men that they have lost control of a long time ago." He added, " We are able to survey the bedrooms and this helps in the long run. It helps us identify any weapons."

The Massachusetts Probation Service is a department of the Massachusetts Trial Court. There are 12 Superior Court, 63 District Court, eight Boston Municipal Court, and 12 Probate and Family Court probation departments throughout the Commonwealth. Probation's Juvenile Court System includes 11 divisions which represent every county in the state. There are 21 Community Corrections Centers throughout the state.