REMARKS OF DISTRICT ATTORNEY DANIEL F. CONLEY PROJECT R.I.G.H.T. BOARD MEETING Thursday, May 16, 2002 It's a pleasure to be here tonight. I want to thank Project R.I.G.H.T.'s Board of Directors for inviting me here to say a few words, and I want to thank everyone who came out for this discussion. The fact that you're here, when in fact you all have busy lives and probably had many other places you needed to be, perfectly summarizes why Project R.I.G.H.T. has been such an effective group and such a vital part of our Grove Hall Safe Neighborhoods Initiative. I'm quite familiar with the good work you've done. When I was a Boston City Councilor, before I became the District Attorney, I developed what, to me, was a beneficial working relationship with Project R.I.G.H.T. It was from Project R.I.G.H.T. that I first learned of the problem of street peddlers selling knives to teenagers. I drafted an ordinance prohibiting the sale of knives by peddlers, and also wrote other ordinances prohibiting youths from possessing knives and prohibiting anyone from carrying knives in public without a legitimate business purpose. Now that I'm the District Attorney, I look forward to doing much more to make our streets and neighborhoods safer, and I look forward to working together with Project R.I.G.H.T. to do just that in Grove Hall. Once again, I ask you to help me identify the most pressing public safety needs and problems in your community, and I promise you I will commit every resource possible to help you solve them. I thought I would spend a few minutes outlining my vision for the Suffolk District Attorney's Office. One of my main goals reflects the reason we've had such success in Grove Hall - cooperation. The partnership between my office, other agencies, Project R.I.G.H.T., and local residents-a shining jewel, really, in our Safe Neighborhoods Initiative-has borne much fruit in Grove Hall. I want to make that partnership even stronger, and we have many accomplishments to build upon. In fact, we have already begun to build on that success, and the blueprint for that construction should come as no surprise to you: It's a grass-roots effort, where everyone communicates what their problems are and we work together to solve them. You know what I'm talking about because you have done it successfully already, whether it was our collaborations on gang problems, quality of life issues, or other serious concerns such as domestic violence or elder abuse. Together, we will continue that success, and together we will reach even greater heights. I believe that-because any program, and any crime-fighting strategy, benefits from a periodic review and concerted effort to sharpen its focus, and that's what I've begun doing with the Safe Neighborhoods Initiative in Grove Hall. As you all know, the Safe Neighborhoods Initiative, or SNI as we call it, targets specific geographic areas and addresses the most pressing public safety problems as defined by prosecutors, police, probation, and community members. Because I consider this crime-fighting strategy so critical, I recently made the SNI program its own team and elevated our most experienced SNI prosecutor - Assistant District Attorney Matt Machera - to lead it. Many of you know Matt, I'm sure, because he works tirelessly to bring justice and safety to your streets. I have instructed Matt to review the Grove Hall SNI - and our SNIs in three other neighborhoods - and see how we can make them even stronger. I also added two additional prosecutors to the SNI program, one of whom, a bright young lawyer named Christopher Pohl, will concentrate primarily on issues affecting Grove Hall. What will we do? Certainly, we will work to eradicate violent crime and guns and gangs that bring fear into our communities. But we will work just as aggressively on those quality-of-life problems that, if unchecked, can make the neighborhood an unpleasant place to live, work, and raise children. You know the types of things I'm talking about - public drinking … stolen cars … vandalism … low-level drug dealing. You know - and I know -- that these are not minor crimes. Quite to the contrary, they are really quite serious, because they can erode the fabric, the harmony, the order of our community. They can create an atmosphere of lawlessness, and that's something I won't tolerate. I want to make sure the courts do not tolerate it either, and punish these defendants accordingly when we bring them to justice. I will work to make sure the courts know how much damage these types of illegal activities can do to tightly-knit neighborhoods like yours. SNIs like yours are so important because it is vital that the District Attorney's Office be plugged into the community. We need to be flexible, adaptable, and nimble, ready to address new issues as they arise. And when the police arrest people, we are moving on them quickly. I'm pleased to report to you that in the last 10 days, police made four gun arrests in Dorchester. And while we have been successful in curbing youth gun use, the ages of these four defendants - the oldest is 22, two others are 18, the youngest is 17 -- shows us there is still much important work to do. And do it we will. We have already begun our work on these cases. We have already presented evidence to a grand jury. This rapid attention is critical to achieving swift, sure justice. Today, thanks to diligent police work and prosecutorial efforts, we're not seeing as much of the random violence that prevailed in the late '80s and early '90s. Much was made in the media about the homicide rate in Boston last year, which was about twice as high as the previous year's total. Many of those homicide victims and defendants knew each other. Some had served prison time and had been released back into the community. How can we make their transition a peaceful one? That is one of the challenges facing us today, and another of my goals is to join with partners like Project R.I.G.H.T. in a leadership role in that effort. We need to consider recidivism, rehabilitation, and economic and employment factors. One way we are addressing that challenge is through Reentry Initiatives that address those social and economic issues that can hinder a person's productive and peaceful return to our communities. I want to do more of this, both for adults returning to our neighborhoods after prison terms and for juveniles returning after DYS commitments. That is where youth crime prevention strategies and employment opportunities can make a huge difference for the better. Another priority of mine is protecting our elderly citizens. The old adage is true: One test of a society is how well it protects its youngest and its oldest members. My office's Elders and Persons with Disabilities Unit handles about 150 cases per year, and it's no secret why it's so busy - elders and people with disabilities are among the most vulnerable members of our society, and are often easy targets for criminals. The types of cases we usually see involving elderly victims are fraud, larceny and, in the saddest of cases, physical abuse. In a good number of cases, the culprit is a family member. We currently have two lawyers and a victim advocate assigned to this unit. This is a tough economic time, a time that is forcing us to prioritize how we use our limited resources, but one of my clear priorities is to add another lawyer and other resources to the unit as soon as I am able to do so, to further strengthen our commitment to what has often, and correctly, been called our "Greatest Generation." Yet another priority of mine is using the moral force of the bully pulpit. I believe that I, as the county's top elected law enforcement official, have the responsibility and the forum to draw attention to important public safety and legal issues. When I identify a need for new legislation, I plan to author and sponsor that legislation. Likewise, when I see proposed legislation that can undermine public safety, I plan to oppose it vehemently. I found myself in that latter position twice in the last two weeks. First, I became alarmed at a legislative effort on Beacon Hill to weaken our strong gun control laws. The proposal would allow people who have been convicted of violent misdemeanors to obtain a license to carry and an FID card. This is asking for trouble. I urged the governor and legislative leaders to reject this proposal. And last week, I was outraged to discover that an amendment to the state budget would decriminalize such crimes as prostitution, vandalism, and certain motor vehicle offenses, making them, instead, civil infractions with no chance for jail time as a penalty. Again, I fired off letters to the governor, key lawmakers, and the entire Suffolk County delegation. This bad legislation absolutely ignores the facts you and I know to be true - that these so-called quality of life crimes, the types of crimes I just mentioned a few minutes ago, can erode the fabric of a neighborhood, and make life miserable for law-abiding people. I vow to continue to fight any attempts to decriminalize these or other serious offenses. That is a snapshot of my priorities. That is my vision for the Suffolk County District Attorney's Office - a leader in partnerships that reach across different segments of society to make our neighborhoods safe and viable places to live, work, and raise our families - partnerships like the fruitful one we share with Project R.I.G.H.T. I envision a proactive office that goes to the heart of our neighborhoods - to the good people who live and work there - and ask them to tell us what their concerns are, so we can address them swiftly and effectively; an agile, adaptable office, that quickly and easily accepts new challenges and seeks answers to new problems in our neighborhoods as they arise, before they get out of hand; an office that helps guide released inmates, or children returning from DYS commitment, toward independent, productive lives. I envision an office that commits every available resource to protecting the most vulnerable among us, the children and the seniors; an office that is a leader in the public policy debate, that is willing to be the moral voice of our neighborhoods; an office where we stand shoulder to shoulder with residents of our diverse communities - with all of you -- working hand in hand to protect our neighborhoods. Please continue to join me in achieving that vision. Thank you. --END--