DA cracks down on gun suspects
In a Taunton housing development in the spring, gunfire broke out regularly after a Fall River man illegally took up residence and started terrorizing residents.
"He was basically strong-arming people and threatening them," Taunton police Chief Raymond O'Berg said in an interview. "He was a nut, a nut with a gun."
O'Berg's department targeted and arrested the man with a loaded .45 caliber pistol - and then got the benefit of a new tactic against gun violence pushed by Bristol District Attorney C. Samuel Sutter. The prosecutor now seeks a dangerousness hearing for anyone arrested on gun charges.
The Taunton suspect was ordered held without bail for 90 days. "It quieted things right down," O'Berg said.
O'Berg and police in New Bedford and Fall River are pointing to the aggressive move by Sutter as a key reason gun violence and reports of gun violence have seen double-digit drops in the three Bristol County cities since January, when Sutter took office.
While other prosecutors in Eastern Massachusetts seek to hold someone as a danger to society on a case-by-case basis, Sutter requests a hearing whenever anyone is arrested on gun charges.
"We've pushed the envelope," Sutter said. "We haven't had a 100-percent success rate, but we certainly are pushing it."
Dangerousness hearings have been held in 58 cases, according to Sutter's office, and defendants have been ordered held in 45 of them. Fall River has had two gun-related homicides so far this year, and there were two during 2006. But Police Chief John Souza said his city is more peaceful, as the reports of shots fired have dropped by 40 percent through September.
"The whole philosophy is something that is very important to combating gun violence," Souza said of the dangerousness hearings.
New Bedford authorities are haunted by the death last year of Bernadette DePina, who was slain in her home after a gang-related killing in which her son was accused. No one has been charged in the killing.
But progress has been made in reducing gun violence, according to police statistics. Reports of shots fired have declined 45 percent through August, and the number of people struck by gunfire has dropped to seven, from 25, through August 2006, according to police. The city had five gun slayings last year but went nearly 10 months until recording the first gun killing of the year, on Sept. 30. New Bedford Mayor Scott Lang, a former prosecutor, is a supporter. "I think taking people off the streets is certainly a major factor," said Lang.
In Taunton, three people have been wounded this year, down from six who were shot in 2006. No one was fatally shot in 2006 or this year. And calls about shots fired, through August, were down by 18 percent, police said. But some defense attorneys question whether there is a valid link between lower gun crime and the blanket policy pushed by Sutter.
Defense lawyers have also questioned the legality of using a law designed to combat domestic violence against people accused of gun crimes. The legal challenges have so far been rebuffed by judges but are expected to be reviewed by the Supreme Judicial Court. "When you hold someone for 90 days, it's almost like you are assuming they are already guilty," said Rene Brown, an attorney bringing the challenge to the SJC.
Some activists like Nelson Hockert-Lotz think the policy is working. Last year, one of the two Dominos pizza shops that he owns in New Bedford was robbed by masked, armed men. No dangerousness hearing was sought, and he spent the next several months attending each court appearance while the suspects were out on bail. Hockert-Lotz, who has publicly praised Sutter in opinion pieces published by the Standard-Times newspaper, said Sutter's approach, and the drop in gun crimes, has given him hope. "New Bedford is the safest it's been in the 20 years I've been doing business," he said. 