A force of their own
Neighborhood's private guards help keep the peace
 Bill Weddleton patrolled the streets of the South End's SoWa area, keeping an eye out for criminals and making sure doors were locked. (Globe Photo / Wiqan Ang) |
Bill Weddleton spends his evenings cruising the South End's gentrifying SoWa area in
He works for Mario Nicosia, whose GTI Properties owns 1 million square feet of residential and office space in the area south of Washington Street, and who spends at least $250,000 a year to have around-the-clock security patrols of the roughly 1- square-mile neighborhood, both on foot and in vehicles.
Nicosia says that taking matters into his own hands to protect the neighborhood is well worth it, because the Boston police, grappling with a worrying rise in violent crime with a shrunken patrol force, can't provide enough security or pay enough attention to property crimes.
``I think sending a cruiser down the street once every few hours is a totally ineffective way to police," Nicosia said in a recent interview. ``It doesn't work, and it never has worked. . . . You have as much of a chance of getting hit by an asteroid as you do of having a police cruiser stop crime."
The South End's district police station is located in the middle of SoWa, an industrial area of lofts and warehouses. But Weddleton said that he passed only one police cruiser during a 90-minute patrol on Tuesday night and that it appeared to be responding to an emergency call.
In recent weeks, Mayor Thomas M. Menino has faced increasing pressure to bolster the patrol force, as city councilors, police union leaders, and community activists have become more vocal about the officer shortage with every new shooting.
Police statistics show there are about 190 fewer officers than five years ago, when there were nearly 2,150 officers working. At the same time, the number of shootings nearly doubled by mid-month, compared with the same period last year. The city recorded the most homicides in 10 years in 2005, with shootings up 77 percent over 2002.
Police deployment numbers for the SoWa area were unavailable. In the neighborhood last year, there were 24 violent crimes and 97 property crimes, police statistics show.
What makes Nicosia's security effort unusual is that his staff of 24 is patrolling public streets usually considered the responsibility of police. The officers are unarmed and do not have arrest powers; Weddleton said they are careful not to take on officers' responsibilities. The effort is not new, but it is being enhanced as more people move into the neighborhood.
``If you don't do the street, what's the purpose of doing the building?" Nicosia said. ``It's in my interest to make sure the streets are safe."
Nicosia's security guards ask people to move away from street corners near their buildings, sometimes by threatening to call police. They routinely use a spotlight mounted on top of the sport utility vehicle to light up dark corners and doorways, where drug users and prostitutes frequently gather. Loiterers can intimidate residents, Nicosia said.
Security guards also use handheld cameras to record crimes as they unfold and sometimes share their footage with Boston police and campus police forces.
``We'll make sure everything's alright," Weddleton said. ``If it isn't, we'll call the police."
Boston Police Superintendent Robert Dunford said in an interview that the department welcomes help from residents, but he expressed concern about elements of Nicosia's security program.
``Observe and report," he said. ``They don't have any right to tell people to move."
Dunford said a better model is the crime watch program that Chinatown community leaders launched about a year ago in close cooperation with police. Residents there patrol the neighborhood wearing blue logo jackets and carrying cellphones.
``They do not confront anyone," Dunford said.
Chinatown business owners also have retained a Boston police officer to work a private detail in the area four days a week for six hours a day, said Debbie Ho, program manager at Chinatown Main Street, a community organization.
Nicosia said that he has been offering the private security for several years, bolstering the effort in recent months. He said that Boston Sports Club, which recently opened in one of his buildings on a quiet stretch of Harrison Avenue, is open from 5 a.m. until 11 p.m. He also said that two high-end chefs will be opening restaurants nearby on Harrison Avenue in the coming months.
With that in mind, Nicosia said, the colorful Explorer will be replaced in about a month with a blue-and-gray SUV with a more powerful spotlight and a more sophisticated camera system that will make it look like a more traditional police vehicle.
He said that 30 years of developing marginal areas into edgy, hip destinations has taught him that criminals are smart and quick. That's why he pays Weddleton and his staff to walk and cruise the same square mile hour after hour, Nicosia said.
``There's a lot of crime in the city," he said. ``The way you stop crime is by having policemen on the beat. . . . To have this idea that a cruiser driving down the street once in a while is going to stop anything is totally ridiculous."
Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com. 
