Same old response to urban violence

LAST YEAR, a small group of Boston teenagers begged Governor Deval Patrick to focus on problems of violence in their crime-ridden neighborhoods.

A report released last week by the Governor's Anti-Crime Council is part of Patrick's response. It includes 10 recommendations no one would call revolutionary and some would call boilerplate. They include: violence prevention councils, reentry support for violent offenders, substance abuse treatment, truancy prevention, job training, and mentoring. There is no specific funding promised for any of them.

Attorney General Martha Coakley, who co-chaired the effort, concedes the report breaks no new ground. She said her group focused on crime prevention programs that are already in place. "Funding these programs is integral to keeping our kids safe and keeping our communities safe. They are not luxury items to cut to save money," she said.

Sarah Lockridge-Steckel, a Harvard University student who accompanied the teenagers who met with Patrick, said the report was a disappointment. "We wanted details and strategies and funding. We were looking for a plan of action . . . as opposed to a summary," she said.

An introduction by James Alan Fox, a professor of criminal justice and law at Northeastern University, lays out some facts of life and death in America. According to the FBI, violent crime is down - depending on who you are and where you live. From 2002 to 2007, he writes, "the number of homicides of black male juveniles as victims rose 33 percent and as perpetrators jumped 65 percent. In terms of gun killings for this same population subgroup, the increases are even more pronounced: 56 percent for victims and 70 percent for perpetrators."

Massachusetts mirrors national patterns. Nearly 45 percent of Massachusetts homicide cases occur in Boston. The good news is that after a spike in homicides in 2005, murder counts in Boston and Massachusetts plateaued and then declined. According to Boston police, there were 54 homicides in 2008, as of Nov. 16. The total for the same time period in 2007 was 61.

In some ways, good news may also count as bad news for those living in high-crime city neighborhoods. Crisis attracts attention, creative thinking, and funding. If the rate of violence levels off, that becomes the new status quo.

The ongoing economic crisis puts pressure on all state funding. Despite that, Patrick promised he would not cut certain social service programs. Last week, before the report was released, he increased funding to combat youth and gang violence and preserved a host of other public safety programs.

In response to the new urban violence report, Patrick told the State House News Service that the recommendations can form a "very thorough" package for the next legislative session. He also said, "There are tens of millions of dollars now invested in prevention, intervention, and rehabilitation initiatives in a whole host of areas. The question is how do we make data-based decisions. In other words, so that we're spending on what works and not spending on what doesn't."

The teens from Boston who met with Patrick had other data in mind. They brought results of a survey that suggested young people in their neighborhoods felt unsafe. More than 85 percent of those surveyed said they had at least one friend who was a victim of gang-related violence.

Meanwhile, behind each statistic is a human being whose life was either cut short or touched by violence.

Earlier this month, 19-year-old Alexandra Gomes of Dorchester died when a man in a hooded sweatshirt walked up to a group in Dorchester, pulled out a gun and started to shoot. Gomes had a 17-month-old daughter and wanted to become a nurse.

In October, three young boys were shot as they played ball outside a Roxbury apartment complex. Before that, two teenage girls were stabbed in the head on an MBTA bus.

It sounds like the same old story, doesn't it? Maybe the same old story deserves more than the same old solutions.

Joan Vennochi can be reached at vennochi@gobe.com.