For Immediate Release
May 18, 2006
Please Contact: Michael Bloom, 617-722-1650

Metro Mayors Communities Recieve Regional Grant to Combat Gangs

BOSTON -- On May 18, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council (MAPC) received a $1 million grant on behalf of 10 communities to fund comprehensive, regional and cross-disciplinary initiatives to combat gang violence. The Executive Office of Public Safety awarded this grant to nine of MAPC’s Metro Mayors Coalition communities: Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Malden, Medford, Melrose, Quincy, Revere and Somerville; and to Winthrop.

“Any serious effort to deal with youth violence and drug abuse must involve cities and towns working together across municipal lines, and this proposal will allow 10 urban core communities to do that,” said MAPC Executive Director Marc Draisen. “Gangs pay no attention to city boundaries, and when communities work together, they send a message that there’s no place to run.”

The Metro Mayors Coalition partnered with the Legislature, and a variety of law enforcement officials and other stakeholders to develop the $11 million Charles Shannon anti-gang grant program at the end of 2005.

"All of us at the Metro Mayors Coalition are deeply grateful to receive support for our collaborative approach to fighting gangs, drugs and youth violence, and we hope this state support continues in years to come," said Somerville Mayor Joe Curtatone. "In Somerville, as in all of our partner communities, we've learned prevention can be just as important as enforcement. We are determined to work together to help young people stay out of gangs -- and to provide them with job preparation support -- while at the same time getting habitual offenders off the streets."

Mayor Curtatone and City Manager Jay Ash are co-chairs of the Metro Mayors Coalition’s Community Safety Strategy. Among their close partners in securing the Charles Shannon program were lead sponsors Senator Jarrett Barrios (D-Cambridge) and Representative Stephen Canessa (D-New Bedford), as well as Senate President Robert Travaglini (D-East Boston), Speaker of the House Salvatore DiMasi (D-Boston), Chairwoman Therese Murray (D-Plymouth), and Chairman Robert DeLeo (D-Revere). The effort also had strong support from Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.

“Fighting violence on our streets means investing in community-based programs that give youth opportunities to escape the temptation of gangs,” said Senator Barrios, who is the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security. “Instead of scratching the surface, this grant program aims to get to the root causes of violence.”

The collective of ten communities possesses a variety of challenges: 

• Its regional population numbers over 530,000 people, comparable to Boston.

• There is documented movement of gangs and gang activities across city borders.

• In 2004 alone, over 6,000 violent crimes and over 5,000 assaults were reported in the 10 communities.

• Youth face multiple risk factors, such as high poverty areas, low educational achievement, and high rates of substance abuse.

• Local police departments have varying abilities to deal with gang crimes because of a lack of personnel and resources.

“Community safety is too important an issue for cities and towns to take on alone,” said Chelsea City Manager Jay Ash. “The state, cities and towns, and community leaders need to continue to work together and create partnerships to fight violent crime and drug abuse.”

The Metro Mayors Coalition, an organization of ten mayors and city managers in the urban core of metropolitan Boston, is committed to finding regional solutions to common problems. The Coalition’s ten members have worked closely together to increase public safety in their communities and across the region.