May 25, 2017
Against the backdrop of Monday night’s terrorist bombing at a Manchester, England, concert venue, Boston Police on Tuesday released a community advisory, closed Lansdowne Street next to Fenway Park, and upped their presence in the city.
Noting that the Boston Calling music festival is approaching, Commissioner William Evans said that more units will be deployed. He also gave assurances that Boston Police officers are highly trained in active-shooter situations and bomb detection.
Later in the day, Evans and Mayor Martin Walsh met at police headquarters with clergy and community leaders to discuss policing over the summer. At a press conference afterwards, Evans told reporters that “we recognize that June, July, and August are our busiest months.” The commissioner and the mayor both emphasized the importance of focusing on youth safety, especially during those months.
The Rev. Arthur T. Gerald, pastor of the Twelfth Baptist Church in Roxbury, joined them in calling for community efforts to protect the city’s children. “It takes a village to raise a child,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to do here.”
According to Walsh, around 45 new officers will graduate from police academies over the next couple of weeks, and those units will be deployed in Dorchester, Roxbury, and Mattapan.
Evans noted that overall, violent crime has decreased despite a number of shootings over the last month. To date in 2017, Walsh said, there has been a 15 percent reduction in arrests.
“We’re trying to do some more community engagement,” the mayor Walsh said, with Evans citing the upcoming Father’s Day Unity Walk as an example.
For Evans, Walsh, and Gerald, a priority this summer is restricting minors from illegally accessing guns.
They have made calls in the past for communities to bar children from using firearms, even replica guns.
“Why is a 16- or 17-year-old finding this high-velocity weapon?” Evans said. “Together, we’ve got to get these guns off the streets.”