PROBATION OFFICERS TEAM UP WITH BOSTON POLICE
ON OPERATION COMMON CURE

(See photos of Operation Common Cure)

During a recent heat wave, a throng of Probation Officers moved through crowds of people milling about Downtown Crossing attracting the stares and double-takes of shoppers, businessmen and women and young people-- in their cool stance-- hanging out with their friends.

As the probation officers, wearing variations of shirts and vests with the words “PROBATION” emblazoned on them, settled at the corner of Washington and Winter streets, some pedestrians hurried by, sneaking a peak. Several of the teens left the group and walked up Washington Street away from the probation contingent. In the midst of this, one of the probation officers immediately spotted an offender.

However, before being approached, the red-haired man walked over to the probation officer and engaged in a conversation about staying away from alcohol and staying on the right side of the law. Another probationer, a sex offender, did not wait to be recognized either. He walked over, identified himself to one of the probation officers and began to explain why he had not checked in with his probation officer.

“Being visible is the best deterrent to crime,” said Mark McHale, Suffolk County Regional Supervisor for the Massachusetts Probation Service. “We recognize the offenders, know their social history and their family background.”

Area A-1 Police Lieutenant Sean Feeney said he appreciates the information that Probation Officers are able to provide on court-involved individuals as well as their hands-on approach to interacting with probationers.

“There is a huge number of offenders who are not known to us. When they see a probation officer, they are scared because they know that they can be brought before the court and sent to jail. Without the information Probation Officers are able to provide, they are not scared because they are hiding behind the cloak of anonymity,” said Feeney. “Probation officers remove the anonymity.”

This version of Probation’s “Operation NiteLite,” a program which pairs probation officers with police, is a biweekly patrol and collaborative effort of the Massachusetts Probation Service and the Area A-1 Precinct of the Boston Police Department which includes the Theater District, Downtown Crossing, Chinatown, Back Bay, the West End, and Charlestown.

The effort is referred to as “Common Cure,” because it also includes a foot patrol of the Boston Common, an area that has seen an increase in violence and drug activity.

The Probation team on this particular evening includes Ahn Vu, First Assistant Chief Probation Officer at BMC-West Roxbury; Diane Barrett Moeller, Probation Officer II at BMC-South Boston; David F. Giacalone, BMC-West Roxbury; Kevin Johnson, BMC-East Boston; Jerome Ledbetter, Suffolk Superior; Mary J. London, BMC-East Boston; Francine Hamersley, BMC-East Boston; Elizabeth Davis, Suffolk Juvenile; Sharon Downey Hasrouni, Suffolk Juvenile; Tony Gully, BMC-Roxbury Chief Probation Officer; Tom Lally, BMC-Central Assistant Chief Probation Officer; and Mark McHale, Suffolk County Regional Supervisor.

Several of the probation officers break off into separate groups. Four of the probation officers head south down Washington Street towards Chinatown and the Theatre District while a smaller group remains at Downtown Crossing where they scan the faces of the crowd and passers-by. South Boston Probation Officer Dianne Barrett Moeller engages in a conversation with a motorcycle police officer as they talk about the last patrol they were on together.

In Chinatown, the group spots a woman, who is on probation for trespassing, in the very area she is banned from. Caught off guard with a look of astonishment on her face, she hurries along her way after a stern warning.

A few blocks away, back at Downtown Crossing, Tony Gully, Chief Probation Officer of BMC-Roxbury, describes the area as “Switzerland, because of its neutrality.”

“You will find people from all over (the city and suburbs) here. This is where they all congregate,” Gully said.

“This type of weather gives us the opportunity to see probationers in action. This is where they come, this is where they shop. When they come to the court, we see one persona. Out here we see another,” said Probation Officer David F. Giacalone of BMC-West Roxbury who has bumped into two probationers he is familiar with.

The two groups of probation officers gather together again and then continue their patrol to the Boston Common which is buzzing with activity. The probation officers separate into groups—communicating by police radios supplied by the Area A-1 precinct.

As McHale and Gully walk along the Common, they come upon a parked truck on the Tremont Street side. There are men and women lining up at the white and blue truck where a man is dispensing plastic cups with a rose-colored fluid to several bleary-eyed men and women. Gully identifies the liquid as methadone. Gully and McHale continue to the center of the park and recognize a middle-aged man with salt and pepper colored hair and rollerblades weaving through a group of young women pushing baby carriages.

“I remember him. He is a sex offender. He was sent to jail and now he is back on the streets but he’s not on probation anymore,” Gully recalled.

Gully and McHale meet up with more probation officers who are patrolling the other side of the Common and run into two young men in their 20’s who are on probation for viciously attacking a teenage boy and girl and then posting it on YouTube.

One of the young men, sporting spiked hair and silver chains attached to his black trousers, gives Gully a lead on the location of one of their friends who has missed his appointments with his probation officer.

McHale later said, “We are able to gather a lot of really good information and give police a helping hand. Our visibility shows offenders that we mean business. We are not only at the courts, we are in the community.”