NORFOLK JUVENILE PROBATION OFFICERS HELP STOP CRIME
AT QUINCY CENTER MBTA STATION

          Norfolk Juvenile Court Assistant Chief Probation Officer Mark Prisco and Probation Officer Denise Aguero were among the key members of "Operation Stopwatch," a law enforcement team, which converged at the Quincy Center train station recently to present a show of force and to prevent teens from committing crimes and causing trouble.

          In addition to Prisco and Aguero, the Operation Stopwatch team consists of MBTA police, Quincy police, representatives from the Department of Youth Services, and Quincy Public School's director of Safety and Security. Operation Stopwatch, formed at the beginning of the school year, evolved from a series of community meetings where residents complained about criminal and delinquent behavior allegedly being committed by Quincy middle and high school students when they are released from school in the afternoon. According to MBTA Police Sergeant Detective Mark F. Gillespie, 21 students were arrested from September 1 through November 27 for robbery, assault, larceny, and distribution of drugs. The Operation Stopwatch team maintains a presence at Quincy Center three times a month.

          "This is a very busy T station. A lot of arrests originate from here. There have been reports of drug transactions, sexual activity in the wooded area behind the station and vandalism," said Norfolk Juvenile Court Chief Probation Officer Thomas Mitchell. "We have picked kids up who are in default of their probation but that is not the primary reason we are here. We are here to maintain a presence."

          Probation Officer Aguero said she is familiar with many of the young people who pass through the station. "I think Operation Stopwatch works. It is presence, partnership and continuity," Aguero said.

          MBTA Sergeant Detective Gillespie described the Norfolk Juvenile Probation Officers as the "most integral members" of Operation Stopwatch.

          "They personally know the kids, their home life and their past. They help us take the anonymity out of it," Gillespie said.