Main South Community Taking Proactive Approach to Crime Fighting

Thursday, July 03, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

As children make their way out of school and the weather begins to heat up, crime in an urban city like Worcester always sees an uptick in crime.

While the South Main neighborhood of Worcester has seen a rash of shooting and other potential gang related activities in the past few months, residents and community leaders are beginning to take a proactive approach to crime fighting, to stop neighborhood crime before it becomes more problematic.

“This neighborhood has its issues but there is a lot of good work being done,” said Sarai Rivera, a Worcester City Councilor who lives in the Main South neighborhood. “We have been speaking with city leaders and the police to help eliminate some of the issues we are facing in the neighborhood. I’m not denying that this neighborhood has problems, but I don’t think Main South is worse than any other community in Worcester.”

Rivera has met with members of the Worcester Police and has confirmation that there will be an increased police presence in the Main South neighborhood. Rivera also says that many community leaders and residents have been attending local meetings and have not hesitated to call her when potential crimes arise.

Not As Bad as Many Think

Main South often gets a bad reputation as one of the more dangerous neighborhoods in Worcester, but Rivera says that people who feel that way should spend some time in the neighborhood.

Rivera points to efforts to improve the neighborhood, the well maintained homes, and the strong community as reasons why the neighborhood isn’t as bad as many say it is. A mother of six boys, Rivera says that if the neighborhood was that bad, then she wouldn’t live there or let her children leave the house.

“I live in this area so believe me, I want to make Main South as safe as possible,” said Rivera. “My children live, play, and go to school in this area. I’m certainly not ignoring the issues because I would run the risk of putting my own children in danger. We are trying to proactive in fighting crime so that things don’t get out of hand.”

Statewide Initiative, Local Results

The Worcester Youth Violence Prevention Program has identified Main South as one of the larger crime riddled areas in Worcester, but is using statewide initiatives to help prevent crime in the future, something that through eight years of work has been helping to achieve.

Through the Shannon Community Safety Initiative and the Safe and Successful Youth Initiative, Worcester has received funding to help implement programs and plans in Main South and other neighborhoods to curb youth and gang crimes.

“We are currently working on a lot of street outreach in the area,” said Laurie Ross, an Action Research Partner for the Worcester Youth Violence Prevention Program. “We want children and gang members to know that there are local resources available, especially if their families are afraid of the area. Our goal is to make sure the people in the areas known for gang activity and crime are connecting to the resources they have available so they can stay away from gang and crime situations.”

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods

Neighborhood search website Neighborhood Scout indexed violent and property crimes data from the Federal Bureau of Investigations to determine the crime rates on a neighborhood-by-neighborhood basis in Worcester. The slides below show the overall crime index (a score of 100 is best) as well as the per capita crime rates broken down by violent and property crime. The data is sourced from 2011 figures, the most recent year available from the FBI. The online resource is created by Location, Inc., a Worcester-area company that bills itself as a leader of location-based data and risk analysis information.

Main South Community Taking Proactive Approach to Crime Fighting

Related Slideshow: Worcester’s Most Dangerous Neighborhoods

38. Heard Street

Crime Index: 83 (100 is safest)

37. Main St / Goddard Memorial Dr

Crime Index: 73 (100 is safest)

36. Westchester / Assumption

Crime Index: 70 (100 is safest)

35 (tie). Mill St / Worcester State U

Crime Index: 67 (100 is safest)

35 (tie). Oakland Heights / Massasoit

Crime Index: 67 (100 is safest)

33 (tie). Jamesville / Ludlow

Crime Index: 65 (100 is safest)

33 (tie). Burncoat

Crime Index: 65 (100 is safest)

31. Chadwick Square

Crime Index: 61 (100 is safest)

30. Sunderland

Crime Index: 60 (100 is safest)

29. Webster Square

Crime Index: 59 (100 is safest)

28. Westwood Hills

Crime Index: 57 (100 is safest)

27. North Worcester / Summit

Crime Index: 55 (100 is safest)

26. Pleasant St.

Crime Index: 48 (100 is safest)

25 (tie). Greendale

Crime Index: 47 (100 is safest)

25 (tie). Bloomingdale

Crime Index: 47 (100 is safest)

23. Clark U / Main St

Crime Index: 46 (100 is safest)

22. Tatnuck / West Tatnuck

Crime Index: 45 (100 is safest)

21. Lakeview

Crime Index: 43 (100 is safest)

20. Holy Cross / College St

Crime Index: 39 (100 is safest)

19 (tie). Columbus Park

Crime Index: 37 (100 is safest)

19 (tie). Hamilton

Crime Index: 37 (100 is safest)

17. Brittan Square

Crime Index: 34 (100 is safest)

16. Pinecrest

Crime Index: 33 (100 is safest)

Violent Crimes per 1000 residents: 5.65

15 (tie). City Center

Crime Index: 29 (100 is safest)

Violent Crimes per 1000 residents: 16.8

15 (tie). South Worcester

Crime Index: 29 (100 is safest)

13. Beaver Brook

Crime Index: 28 (100 is safest)

12 (tie). Swan Avenue

Crime Index: 24 (100 is safest)

12 (tie). June Street

Crime Index: 24 (100 is safest)

10 (tie). University Park

Crime Index: 20 (100 is safest)

10 (tie). Quinsigamond Village / College Hill

Crime Index: 20 (100 is safest)

8 (tie). Umass Medical / Lake Ave N

Crime Index: 16 (100 is safest)

8 (tie). Water St / Grafton St

Crime Index: 16 (100 is safest)

6 (tie). Beverly Road

Crime Index: 15 (100 is safest)

6 (tie). WPI / Highland St

Crime Index: 15 (100 is safest)

4. Oak Hill

Crime Index: 13 (100 is safest)

3. Belmont Hill / Shrewsbury St

Crime Index: 8 (100 is safest)

2. Chandler Hill

Crime Index: 6 (100 is safest)

1. Great Brook Valley

Crime Index: 4 (100 is safest)