Three Worcester Students Arrested First Week of School for Gang Activity

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Tuesday, September 01, 2015

Patrick Sargent, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

A pair of gang-related arrests made last week in Worcester involved students from the city’s high schools.

Between the pair of arrests, six teenagers were charged with possession of a firearm. Two of the six teens - including a 17-year-old juvenile female - attend a Worcester high school. One of the males involved recently dropped out. 

The names of these teenagers were not released by Worcester Public Schools (WPS), but sources have confirmed that they are involved with local gangs.

In a statement released from the Superintendent’s office to GoLocal, Dr. Melinda Boone said that the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act prohibits the school system from discussing student records and discipline. However, she did note that if students are charged with and/or convicted of a felony, they may be excluded from school “if their presence may become a detriment to the school environment.”

The first arrests occurred last Tuesday, the day before school started. Three 18-year-old males - Justin Hammond, Jeremiah Perez, and Terrance Kenol - were arrested on firearm charges after their vehicle was stopped near the McDonalds on Main Street.

Gang unit officers found a handgun in the vehicle’s glove compartment and a knife and pellet gun in a black backpack in the car.

The second arrest occurred on Wednesday, August 26 - the first day of school. The juvenile female was arrested along with two 18-year-old males - Saeed Egeh and Marcus Brooks - on charges of possession of an open container of alcohol and possession of firearm and ammunitions.

Schools ‘Sitting on a Powder Keg’

“We had a number of safety issues last year, and these kids are coming back to school. Principals still don’t know what’s being done (for safety) and it’s causing anxiety,” School Committee member Brian O’Connell told GoLocal.

O’Connell is concerned that the lack of communication over the summer from WPS administration to the school principals in regards to proposed safety protocols and planning for this school year may contribute to an already tense environment.

“Safety has to be our highest priority. With a plan seemingly being thrown together at the last minute, it reflects that safety may not be a priority,” said O’Connell. “It would’ve been very helpful (to communicate) for staff after the very challenging year we had last year in some of our schools.”

O’Connell notes the recent gang activity and told GoLocal that there has been gang activity involving gang member in the past, but most of the issues had been played out on the street and not in the schools.

“With the return to school, there are members of opposite gangs in the same school, at the same time,” O’Connell said. “There’s a risk the schools are sitting on a powder keg.”

Principals Alerted to Plan

Last Monday, principals of Worcester public secondary and elementary schools were notified that the school system would be implementing a School Resource Officer model. The models calls for three additional Worcester Police officers to the already existing four WPD liaisons currently in the schools. The three added officers will serve all eleven secondary schools for the upcoming school year.

The plan was announced to the public the week before school starts from Mayor Joe Petty's office and at a school committee meeting. 

Worcester's resource officer model will look very much like the model used by the National Association of School Resource Officers (NASRO) and, according to the Superintendent's office, the model will be presented at an upcoming school committee meeting. The school committee meets again on September 3. 

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• Is Student Safety a Major Concern in Worcester Schools?
• The State of Worcester’s Public School Safety
• Worcester’s School Committee and Principals Were Forced to Wait for Safety Plan
• Boone Reveals New Safety Measures for Burncoat High School
• City Still Waits on Safety Audit After Violent School Year in Worcester
• School Committee Candidate Collins Releases Proposed Safety Plan
• Is Worcester’s School Safety Being Compromised? City Officials Weigh in
• EXCLUSIVE: Worcester Public Schools New Police Officer Plan ‘Doesn’t Exist’
• Is Boone’s Action Plan for North High Still in Play?
• Worcester Public Schools to Station WPD Officers at North High
• Worcester Police Still Waiting On Boone to Link Cameras at North High
• More Problems at North High: Vice Principal Assaulted Trying to Break Up Fight
• Two Students Arrested, Still No Police Cameras at North High

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