DiMasi promises vote on crime bill

House Speaker Salvatore F. DiMasi has pledged that the House will vote next month on a measure aimed at reducing witness intimidation, calling the legislation critical to boost prosecutions in Boston, where the murder rate is at a 10-year high.

''Public safety is a top priority," said his spokeswoman, Kimberly Haberlin. ''We want to put this matter before the members."

Law enforcement officials have been lobbying extensively for legislation that would both toughen penalties against gang members who intimidate witnesses and would restrict defendants' access to victims.

They also want more ways to protect witnesses, such as giving them police protection or temporarily relocating them.

Police have said that they are having a hard time solving some homicide cases, in part because witnesses are afraid to cooperate with authorities.

So far this year, the city has recorded 73 murders.

Two bills, one by Senator Jarrett T. Barrios, a Cambridge Democrat, and Representative Stephen R. Canessa, a New Bedford Democrat, and another by Lieutenant Governor Kerry Healey, will be taken up by the House during the second week of January, Haberlin said.

The Senate has already approved the Barrios-Canessa bill, and the House is expected to merge the two bills, which overlap in many key areas.

Barrios said that if the House approves a hybrid version of the two bills that week and the Senate goes along, Governor Mitt Romney could sign the legislation by the end of January.

Barrios acknowledged that some aspects of his bill are controversial. For instance, it would allow a judge to shield a witness from any contact with a gang leader, as well as associates of that gang leader. But prosecutors face an uphill battle proving that all gang members have harmful intentions and deserve restraining orders.

Canessa said, however, that he is convinced the public's desire to see more successful homicide prosecutions will lead lawmakers to take swift action, which he called ''a leap in the right direction."

These bills are part of statewide efforts to curb the influence of gangs. Yesterday, Romney signed a $53 million spending bill, aimed in part at preventing gang violence and avoiding more than 300 layoffs at the state's prisons.

Patricia Wen can be reached at wen@globe.com.