The city council is trying combat issues of summer violence in the city.
During a hearing earlier this week, the council discussed several ways to combat the issue.
“Violence happens all year but there is an uptick during the summer,” said councilor Kim Janey during the meeting.
The Boston police department said they are adding more police officers in areas like parks and nightclubs. They will also be focusing on community engagement with events like cookouts and sports games. This is also an effort to have the youth feel comfortable with the police.
Deputy police superintendent James Chin also said the department is trying to get illegal guns off the streets.
Janey believes the city should offer jobs to the youth as a way to keep them off the street and also provide them with social services to help them deal with any trauma.
“We want to make sure we can live in communities that are safe,” she said.
This isn’t the first hearing on summer violence. The council held a similar hearing last year in June on the same topic.
“It was very worthwhile to hear from the community and figure out some strategies,” said councilor Matt O’Malley.
The city so far has had 21 homicides this year. Around this time last year, there were about 24 homicides in the city.
According to deputy police superintendent Kevin McGoldrick, in 23 recent shootings in the city, about 43 percent were affiliated with gangs.
Other councilors said the city and police need to do a better job of working with the community and community advocacy groups on combating this issue.
“We do our best when we work in collaboration,” said city council president Andrea Campbell. “It’s important that we all do our best and work together on this. Everyone deserves to feel safe where they live and work.”
