4. Safety
While crime has decreased in Brockton, we continue to struggle with youth violence that is destroying families, tarnishing our image, and scaring off investors. Whether it's after-school programming for our teens, proven re-entry programs and CORI reform to ensure that ex-offenders are prepared to return to Brockton, or a comprehensive drug policy that aggressively pursues sellers and provides treatment to users, we know tackling youth crime will have a major impact in Brockton.
As your At-Large City Councilor, I formed a Safety Working Group to further explore smart crime-fighting strategies, including the use of data to better analyze information to target and support youth repeat offenders, 26 years old and younger, who constitute a large percentage of the city’s crime. The working group's findings are below.
Working Group Executive Summary
(Scroll down to access the full report)
Problem
Strong civic and social networks and the use of crime data enable communities to develop early interventions to prevent activities that can lead to risky, violent, or criminal behavior. Brockton has implemented some of the best models and funding sources that work to prevent and fight crime in urban cities. The city's strategic use of data has reduced crime and strengthened law enforcement through stronger community and regional partnerships. Years of coordinated crime-prevention activities have begun to pay off; but progress is fragile. Funding for many of the effective strategies has dried up, and the status of ongoing efforts is questionable.
Recommendations
The Safety Working Group makes the following three recommendations to help keep intact the gains in safety Brockton has witnessed in recent years:
- In the areas of prevention and intervention, Brockton should build on its existing early-warning efforts that identify at-risk students at a young age, including sharing this information with out-of-school providers;
- In the areas of public advocacy and community outreach, local elected officials should launch an aggressive public advocacy campaign to secure continued government funding for the strategic use of data and partnerships; and
- In the areas of community partnerships and expansion, city government should encourage and collaborate with community-based agencies that are seeking to replicate the city’s successful safe neighborhoods strategies.
For more than a decade now, Brockton has been immersed in an effort to develop a citywide and regional game plan for keeping Brockton’s streets safe. This report attempts to add value to the city’s activities by providing specific and attainable recommendations to build a community where smart crime-fighting strategies, strong social networks, investment in our youth, and effective collaboration at all levels promote a safer Brockton.
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Safety Working Group Report
