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 STANDING UP FOR YOUR COMMUNITY
A few weeks ago, the defendant in a Dorchester gun case was sentenced to a year and a half behind bars after pleading guilty to all the charges against him. What made this case noteworthy to me was how community members from Pope’s Hill – where this individual lived and committed his crimes – were involved every step of the way, from holding meetings with other residents to attending the defendant’s court dates to providing my office with an impact statement outlining how he had lowered the quality of life in their neighborhood.
Community involvement is an invaluable tool in our efforts to reduce crime and increase our shared quality of life. It’s inspiring to see people coming together and declaring that they will not stand for guns, violence, and other criminal activity in their neighborhoods.
In the Pope’s Hill case, Garner Street residents began to notice a change in the area after a 37-year-old man moved in on their street. Community members became aware that he and his associates were engaging in drug use and transactions. Soon, strangers were coming in and out of the neighborhood, homes on the street were being broken into, cars were speeding past day and night, and neighbors who were brave enough to complain were insulted and even threatened.
But rather than allow themselves to be intimidated into silence by fear and threats, those community members instead chose to organize and make law enforcement authorities and local officials aware of their plight. The Pope’s Hill Neighborhood Association and the Westglow-Auriga-Ashmont-Garner (WAAG) Neighborhood Crime Watch shared their concerns with police, their local representatives, and my office.
On May 18, 2007, Boston Police officers went to the residence where the defendant lived to arrest one of his roommates on a warrant. In the process, they noticed the strong odor of marijuana. They walked down a hallway to the defendant’s room, where they questioned him. He eventually admitted that he not only had a large quantity of marijuana in his room, but had also secreted a loaded rifle under his mattress and more than five dozen rounds of ammunition in a case hidden near his bed.
This man armed himself with an illegal firearm in a neighborhood where children live, where elders have retired, and where people get up every morning to go to work and school. We can only imagine the harm that could have come if a child had found it instead of police.
On March 3, during a routine hearing, the defendant chose to plead guilty in the Firearms Priority Disposition Sessions – more commonly known as Gun Court – to firearm, ammunition, and drug charges. Every defendant has the right to plead guilty at any time, and it’s a decision often made because our prosecutors build strong cases well before trial. The court adopted our sentencing recommendation, which included jail time despite a legal loophole that provides no mandatory incarceration for an illegal gun kept in the home, followed by strict probationary terms that include orders to stay away from Garner Road.
The Pope’s Hill Neighborhood Association and the WAAG Neighborhood Crime Watch provided impact statements to the court. Residents also contacted Boston City Council President Maureen E. Feeney and State Representative Martin J. Walsh, both of whom also urged the court to consider the harm this defendant had caused to the neighborhood, the fear he had instilled in its residents, and the potential for tragedy that was averted. Every party involved demonstrated a commitment to preserving their neighborhood’s safety and maintaining the fabric of their community.
Although this is one case in one neighborhood, there are countless others across Boston, Chelsea, Revere, and Winthrop in which community members have been crucial in helping police and prosecutors stop the cycle of crime and violence. Neighborhood involvement works, and the time to stand up is now.
By Suffolk County District Attorney Daniel F. Conley March 27, 2008
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