
Following the arrests in the North End by Boston Police District A-1 last Friday and Saturday nights, 28 youths appeared in Boston Juvenile Court on Monday, August 21st. Four were 15 years old, twelve were 16 years old, and twelve were 17 years old. Coincident with the Fisherman’s Feast going on this weekend, most of the arrests were made in the Gassy / DeFilippo Playground, Commercial Street and Sargent’s Wharf area. Charges included underage and public drinking with minor trespassing.
First Justice Terry Craven of the Boston Juvenile Court imposed the following sentence for each of the offenders:
– 15 hours of community service,
– Written 5-page essay on the Fisherman’s Feast,
– Stay-away order from the North End unless accompanied by a parent.
– The community service can not be performed in the North End due to the conflict with stay away order.
Boston Police District A-1 Captain Kenneth Fong said, “The arrests were in response to numerous complaints from community members and neighborhood residents upset about young people drinking and disrupting, not only the feasts, but the peace and tranquility of the neighborhood. We used our department’s social media apparatus to encourage people to be on their best behavior when attending the feasts in the North End. Clearly, those arrested either didn’t get the message or got it and chose to ignore it. Either way, the individuals arrested will hopefully behave better should they decide to attend future feasts or events in the North End.”
Of the dozens arrested over the weekend, the vast majority were from the suburbs or other neighborhoods with only two identified as residing in the North End. [See details here and here.]
Recent weekends saw hundreds of teenagers gathering along the Commercial Street ball fields, Langone Park, Gassy / DeFilippo Playground, Sargent’s Wharf and Christopher Columbus Park. Earlier this week, Boston Police met with local officials and issued multiple warnings that more aggressive action would be taken.
BPD encourages residents to report all public safety issues to 911 where they can be dispatched to on-site officers.
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Good for the judge. These are not kids that are “bored” as someone wrote here & I doubt that “their parents are dropping them off here”. Their intent is clear.As I wrote before they have zero respect for anyone or anything.
Welcome to having a record. It follows you your whole life!
Since they are juveniles, their record will be sealed (or dismissed) once they complete their sentence.
wow. impressive efforts and results by many parties, including residents, the police, our elected officials, and this blog! can we apply a similar strategy to those residents who do not clean up after their dogs, including just dropping the poop bag on the ground? one can wish.
L.O.V.E. it ………
That’s a fair sentence. It should become more common with the hopes of redirecting (at least some of) these kids to more more-productive-less-destructive activities. Maybe it WOULD be better to include a waiver that allows them to come into the neighborhood just to fulfill their community service obligations w/ activites like post-festival clean-up and breakdown, etc. (similar to the court-involved folks who were here last weekend assisting with the bandstand/chapel set-up for St. Anthony’s Feast so as to help defray their own personal court fees).
Like your creative, practical post, Janine.
Very fair sentence. #privilege #hopeI’mwrong!!!
I agree with Janine – also, if they need to write essays they’d prob be smart to talk to the organizers – not sure how much info there is on Wikipedia etc. they could all come in for a day of cleanup and sit down over lunch with the organizers and learn why their actions detract from the areas cherished traditions. It would also teach them forgiveness and accountability.
In any case, it’s a fair ruling.
I just want to say thank you to everyone who helped to bring this about, from the people who provided the evidence in the form of photos and videos, to the police and elected officials, to the judge for a creative and appropriate sentence. An especially big THANK YOU to Matt Conti for providing this forum and keeping the spotlight on this important neighborhood issue!
Please join me in clicking the donation link and supporting NorthEndWaterfront.com.
Well said.
This is wonderful! Now maybe these kids from outside of Boston will think twice before coming to the North End to drink and start trouble. I love he sentence that Judge Craven gave these teens.
Thanks to everyone who listened to the North End concerned residents and finally something got done. Thanks to Capt Fong, Sal LaMattina, Aaron Michelwitz (who even assisted the North End while getting married in another state) , Mayor Walsh and to anyone that I have not mentioned here that helped get this situation taken care of before there was a tragedy.
They should do there community service in North end