Police1 Staff Report
In the face of shrinking budgets and diminishing manpower, Boston PD has taken a creative approach to getting the biggest bang for their crime-fighting buck.
“We’re in tight fiscal times and we’re battling increased crime with less officers,” Officer Mike McCarthy, Boston PD’s spokesman, said. “As my father used to say, we have to learn to make do with what we’ve got and still get the job done. We need to maximize our resources.”
That’s just what they’re planning to do. Police Commissioner Kathleen O’Toole has initiated the launch of a new Crime Suppression Unit. It is designed to specifically target gang violence and crime “hotspots,” which are identified through intelligence gathered at the agency’s on-site Tactical Intelligence Center.
“We identify where most of the crimes are occurring and focus our manpower there,” McCarthy said. “Then we identify who is committing the most serious crimes - like the gang members who are increasingly shooting at each other and endangering innocent people as well as themselves - and get officers to focus on them.”
Robert Walker, a Police1 staff member, gang consultant and DEA agent, said this concept has already gone international. Walker recently returned from the Caymen Islands, where he spent the week educating the population on gang identification.
“The Boston PD’s approach to combating the gang problem by focusing on gangs and drugs simultaneously is a logical and sensible use of experienced officers. Commissioner O’Toole should be commended for a practical innovation in law enforcement,” Walker said. “I think you will see this approach spreading rapidly to other U.S. cities where the departments have a budget crunch. In fact, this concept has already gone international.
Original Report:
By MICHELE MCPHEE
New Unit in Boston PD to Target Street Crime, Gang Violence
Boston police officials are shuffling specialized squads to create an elite new unit whose mission will be to combat the gang bloodletting and drug-related violence that has led to a rise in murders and riddled Hub neighborhoods with bullets.
The Street Violence Suppression Unit - which will be formed today when officers in the drug unit will be bumped to gang squads or sent back to patrol - is the brainchild of Superintendent Paul Joyce, commander of the Bureau of Investigative Services.
Joyce said the unit’s creation is part of a strategy targeting drug dealers, gang bangers, gun runners and wanted fugitives with a cohesive collection of Boston’s best cops ...Full Story
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