By Jessica Van Sack
The Boston Herald
BOSTON — Fresh off a promotion, the new chief of the city school police force helped intercept an armed teen yesterday outside a Dorchester school before the bullets could fly.
Eric J. Weston, 47, was named the new chief of safety services yesterday by schools Superintendent Carol R. Johnson. Johnson said Weston “has a proven track record of success in prevention and enforcement.’'
Weston, known for a hands-on approach, proved it yesterday.
He was there when BPD cops near the Jeremiah Burke High School in Dorchester pulled a gun off a teen who had been absent from school and was fighting with other students shortly after dismissal.
“It could have been worse - there could have been a shooting,’' Weston said.
Informed of rising tensions at the school, he beefed up the cop presence through Operation Stop Watch, a partnership with the MBTA Transit Police and BPD.
Weston has served in School Police since 1985. He was promoted to sergeant in 1987 and to lieutenant in 2000. He’ll now supervise the 88 sworn officers who patrol the Hub’s 144 schools.
Although a separate agency, the school police work closely with the Boston Police Department.
The Herald reported Monday that the first seven days of school saw about 76 reported crimes.
“We’re trying to figure out who the new players are - the middle school impact kids who are now moving into the high school,’' Weston said. Yet Weston finds that the best way to combat crime in the schools is to form relationships with students.
“It’s about asking, `how was that test?’ and `how was that hockey game?’ '' Weston said.
And it’s about getting parents involved. Today, teams of school police officers and clergy will knock on the doors of at-risk youth through Operation Home Front, which he hopes to expand.
Copyright 2008 The Boston Herald