BMC-WEST ROXBURY PROBATION’S GANG SUMMIT ‘A SUCCESS’

Four months after a gang summit—organized by the West Roxbury Probation Department to diffuse tension and prevent bloodshed between rival gangs over the summer--Chief Probation Officer Mark Prisco and his staff are pleased to announce its success. For Prisco and his Probation Officers, success means there was less violence than previous years.

“There has not been a lot of violence,” Prisco said. “I give credit to the kids who heeded the call.”

In June, Probation Officers packed 47 gang-affiliated young men—who represented 17 of the city’s street gangs-- into Session Six of the West Roxbury Division of Boston Municipal Court (BMC) where they issued an impassioned plea against gun violence over the summer.

The plea was part of Probation’s “Safe Summer Initiative,” a collaborative effort between the BMC-West Roxbury Probation Department; federal, state and city law enforcement agencies; and the clergy. The 90-minute meeting featured a video called “Mandatory Sentence,” produced by Wyatt Jackson of 4Peace, a non-profit anti-violence and video production company. Presentations were also made by Superintendent Daniel Linskey of the Boston Police Department, Dan Mulhern of the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office, and John Wortmann of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Probation Officers from BMC-West Roxbury first introduced the Safe Summer Initiative last year in response to the escalation of gang-related shootings and deaths. Probation Officers from West Roxbury and the Roxbury and Dorchester divisions of BMC –in conjunction with the Boston Police Department--have worked diligently behind the scenes year-round to end gun violence and to put an end to the senseless shootings and deaths.

“We are supervising the probationers very closely and are a major presence in the community,” Prisco said.

BMC-West Roxbury Probation will continue their supervision efforts and programs targeted at the gang-involved.

This fall, Prisco and his staff will kick-off the 4th year of the RALLY (Responsible Accountable Life-Skill Lessons for Youth) Program, an initiative for young men 17 to 21 who have been identified by police and the court system as gang-involved or at-risk of becoming gang-involved. Through the 10-week program, coordinated by Prisco, young men are introduced to members of the community who share their stories, give them advice, and help them find jobs—all in an attempt to help the young men become law-abiding citizens.

RALLY speakers include inmates from the Boston Pre-Release Center, Boston College athletes, Boston Public School Police, a reverend who lost a son to gang violence, Boston Street Workers, job training specialists from Youth Opportunity for Boston, substance abuse specialists, and an EMT who responds to shooting scenes.

Prisco’s RALLY Program evolved out of the Re-Inventing Justice Program, established by BMC-West Roxbury Judge Kathleen Coffey to address the needs of offenders in the community.