Escalation in Gang Violence Sparks Movement to Get Worcester Kids off Streets

Thursday, July 23, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

There have been roughly 30 shootings in the city of Worcester already this year - putting it on pace to exceed last year’s single year record of 38 shootings by double-digits.

According to a source in the Worcester Police Department, every single shooting that has occurred so far in 2015 has been gang-related. The shootings account for retaliations, territorial defense, and turf wars for drug deals.

To date, the shootings have involved 23 teenagers and twelve males in their early 20s. The victims of the city’s four homicides are between 18 and 27 and are all men of color.

Community Leaders Trying to Take Control

Organizations in the city, including Worcester Public Schools, Worcester Police Department.Straight Ahead Ministries, Worcester Youth Center, Christian Community Church, and the WPD Gang Unit coordinated by Sgt. Miguel Lopez, have taken the initiative to address the gang violence and are pursuing ways to keep kids off the streets and out of gangs.

Robert Pezzella, WPS’ Schools Safety Liasion, told GoLocalWorcester, “We opened up a couple of our schools last week to try to get some of our kids into the gym and off the streets. We’re trying to get these kids to come in and we’re trying to do some outreach and provide services to them.”

The anti-gang program, which is in its second week, is highly recreational and once the kids are in the program, organizers do an assessment to see how they can keep them off the streets and keep them away from delinquent or gang-related activities. The agency determines whether or not a kid needs counseling, they try to find them a job, and provide online education tools.

“We’re really in the middle of the height of what’s going on,” said Pezzella. “As you can see, there’s really no perfect time of the day because violence is happening at all hours of the day.”

The City of Worcester and Worcester Public Schools are able to fund programs like this as part of the state’s anti-Gang grant which is funded by the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative.

According to Pezzella, on Wednesday evening, the turnout in the program was exceptional and full-court basketball games were taking place.

Kids Have History of Gang Involvement

“These are all kids identified with being involved in gangs,” said Pezzella. “These might be hard-core members that not only are we trying to keep off the streets, but also try to intervene and introduce them to some resources that help contribute to their education.”

Pezzella said the number of kids involved in the program is as high as 80 and range from ages 14 to 24. All of the kids involved are male and are identified as needing some severe intervention because of their affiliation with gangs.

“Some of the kids on the list clearly have been involved with some of the recent activity in the community,” said Pezzella.

Following shootings during a home invasion on Wednesday morning on Flagg Street, WPD Chief Gary Gemme said, "The solution to gun violence is not more arrests, consider that this year the department has already made 3,723 arrests of that 256 were for known gang members and 52 were gun related. The solution to gun violence requires greater community involvement at the neighborhood level and judges who hold those involved in illegal firearm possession and gun violence accountable."

Pezzella said there has been clear positive outcomes within the program so far this summer, but due to the recent violence in the past few weeks, the organizations involved are trying provide even more services and more interventions.

“We want to keep these kids in school, and we want to provide interference where they aren’t bringing their problems into school,” said Pezzella. “We don’t want them to get to the point that they’re no longer interested in any positive enforcement like school. We’re doing all we can to try and get these kids out of gangs.”

(Editor's Note: Due to safety reasons, GoLocalWorcester decided to withold the locations of the program.)