City’s Listening Tour Makes Stop in South Boston to Discuss Summer Safety

By Ginger DeShaney

Ten people showed up at the Condon School for the city’s Community Listening Tour on summer safety. Isaac Yablo, Senior Advisor for Community Safety in the Mayor’s Office, said that was the biggest turnout he’s had so far in his ventures into Boston’s neighborhoods.

In his role, Yablo focuses primarily on community safety, not public safety. He explained that public safety is the macro, the stuff citizens may not know about or have access to, such as domestic and terrorist threats.

“My job is to focus more on the micro,” he said, “the communities that have been historically impacted by violence and those that are most likely to experience community violence based on structural marginalization.”

Two areas of South Boston fall into that category: the West Broadway and Mary Ellen McCormack housing developments.

So it was through that micro lens that Yablo outlined the 2023 Summer Safety Strategy. He did note, however, that he doesn’t like the phrasing “summer safety,” instead saying that it’s really yearround safety with summer priorities.

The four goals for the summer are as follows:

Scale up community and youth activities, mentor programming, and employment opportunities for people residing in communities historically impacted by gun violence.

Ensure neighborhoods are supported and connected to resources to help them respond to and recover from incidents of community violence.

Strengthen intervention and recovery efforts through expanded intentional outreach and engagement to the most at-promise (at-risk) populations.

Increase positive community activities and promote positive community engagement in “hotspot” locations as a means to increase collective efficacy and build social cohesion. Safety is a citywide approach, Yablo said. “Everyone has a role to play.”

Yablo identified summer’s four main problem areas:

Dirt Bike/ATV Safety: It is illegal to drive a dirt bike, ATV, or other offroad vehicle on public roads. And Boston PD has a no-chase policy. Anyone with information regarding the illegal operation or storage of these vehicles, and who wants to remain anonymous, can call the CrimeStoppers Tip Line at 1-800-494TIPS or text “TIP” to CRIME (27463).

Fireworks: They are illegal to possess and set off, Yablo said. The Boston Police Department’s Fireworks Hotline is 617-343-9800.

Problem Properties: The Problem Properties Task Force helps address crime and blight in the city. The Task Force identifies problem properties and holds owners responsible.

Fourth of July: This holiday has historically presented issues surrounding summer safety. To combat shootings, people who are most likely to shoot or get shot will be provided additional support resources between July 4-5, including offering them activities out of the city for that timeframe. In the last three years, 32 people have been shot between July 4-5, Yablo said.

“Our city is very safe broadly, but what we’ve also been able to figure out is 100% of community gun violence occurs in only 7% of the city of Boston,” Yablo said.

The four most violent neighborhoods in the city are Dorchester, Roxbury, Mattapan, and a specific section of Jamaica Plain, he said.

Yablo provided a sheet that outlined some programs, resources, initiatives, intervention, recovery, and community building and empowerment programs. A more comprehensive report will be available soon.

He pointed out the Summer Activation Mini-grants, which empower neighborhood associations, tenant task force groups, and grassroots community-based organizations that work closely with marginalized communities. He also noted the need for programs that cater to men over the age of 24, noting that the average age of people getting shot is 29 years old. After a robust discussion by the people in attendance, including City Council President Ed Flynn and several South Boston nonprofit organizations, Yablo said the goal of the meeting was to get information out and to meet people in the neighborhoods.

“I just hope that people who came to the meeting leave with a little bit more clear understanding of what the city has to offer.”

Flaherty

Councilor At-Large