Amid the continuing public safety and quality-of-life concerns impacting the South End, Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden convened a community engagement meeting for the neighborhood on Tuesday, June 2, at the Cathedral High School gym.
“We’re committed to making sure this summer doesn’t look like last summer, “ said DA Hayden, while acknowledging “the South End continues to be a challenge,” especially amid the epidemic of opioid use and open-air drug dealing at Mass and Cass, which has spread throughout the neighborhood.
Services Over Sentences (SOS) program, which was announced by DA Hayden in 2022, continues to help vulnerable individuals in and around Mass and Cass. The program was launched via the office’s Asset Forfeiture Fund, comprising assets seized from drug dealers, and has since received funding from the Legislature and Tufts Medical Center.
“Recovery is the solution,” said DA Hayden. “Getting people clean and sober is absolutely a positive solution.”
Pointing to a current decline in violent crime, DA Hayden said the intention is to apply this same proven recipe of “intervention, prevention, and enforcement” to address Mass and Cass, along with its attendant problems, including narcotics, human trafficking, and retail theft.
Joe Janezic, chief of the Crime Strategies Bureau, detailed how rampant retail theft, among other serious issues, at the South Bay mall led to the creation of the successful Safe Shopping Initiative.
Also, Janezic said “positive outcomes” have been seen in the aftermath of a “surge” by Boston Police in the South End, which got underway last April to address ongoing issues in the neighborhood.
“We see this holistically,” said Janezic, adding they would “make the judge aware of the next hotspots,” where discarded needles, assaults, and street violence are prevalent, since these issues are so often “intertwined.”
Rep. John Moran discussed his involvement in a subgroup of a longstanding working group on addiction and recovery that aims to identify and remedy perceived “gaps” in the system.
“The key is all along we’ve had DA Hayden in our camp,” said Rep. Moran.
District 3 City Councilor John Fitzgerald discussed an amendment he recently filed to the city’s budget for the allocation of an additional $200,000 for the city’s Coordinated Response Team, which works to end outdoor substance use; to address quality-of-life issues for residents and businesses; and to facilitate the transition of individuals into recovery.
Councilor Fitzgerald noted that the CRT program has given assistance to around 1,000 individuals since September, with 65 percent of them going to the next level of recovery.
District 2 City Councilor Ed Flynn expressed his concern with some of his City Council colleagues who are considering supporting proposed budget cuts for the Boston Police Department.
“I think we need more police,” said Councilor Flynn, who also pointed to the careful balance needed between providing drug treatment and respecting the law.
DA Hayden similarly said: “Slashing our police budget is not the solution to any issues that have come before us, and certainly not in the South End.”
In his introductory remarks, Steve Fox, chair of the South End Forum and a longtime neighborhood activist, lauded DA Hayden for his responsiveness, particularly for following through on a request to make stay-away orders a condition of probation.
“Kevin was the first DA we encountered who took our request seriously,” said Fox.
A survey taken of those in attendance indicated that most respondents felt “somewhat safe” in the neighborhood, despite one South End resident stating emphatically during public testimony that he has felt significantly less safe in the neighborhood during the last year.
One longtime Worcester Square resident, who, with her husband, is raising their two children in the neighborhood, said she still loves the area, despite feeling somewhat “desensitized” to some of the ongoing issues. She suggested more people weren’t calling to report arising issues because some South End residents don’t feel “important” enough.
DA Hayden urged community members in attendance to continue to contact authorities when they encounter issues in the neighborhood, even if it sometimes seems like their calls are going unheard.