Worcester Plagued By BB Gun Crime
Thursday, June 26, 2014
After a string of eleven bb gun vandalism crimes in March, the Worcester Police Department responded to four bb gun shootings in a four day period, from June 20 to June 23.
“We have to be more vigilant as a city because unfortunately these idiotic situations do occur,” said Worcester City Councilor Rick Rushton. “All you can do in these situations is to put the hammer down when people do get caught.”
Three of the four accounts of bb gun shootings were at people, while one was at a dog. The three people shot suffered minor injuries while the dog was taken to Tufts Veterinary Medical Center. In their press release, the Worcester Police said that they don’t believe the incidences were connected.
The Season for Crime
Bill McCarthy, a criminal justice professor at Quinsigamond Community College, is not surprised that a sudden increase of bb gun crimes – which are believed to mostly be committed by juveniles – have occurred at the end of June.
In addition to schools being out of session, McCarthy adheres to a criminal justice theory stating that anytime the temperature rises above 85-degrees, crime will undoubtedly rise in a given area. With bb guns being an easy item to purchase or find, paired with Worcester being an urban area which has long been associated with crime, McCarthy says that instances like these are unavoidable.
While only speculating based on previous circumstances, McCarthy believes that the Worcester Police will increase their efforts in areas of the city where these bb gun crimes have been in the past. Using a combination of undercover officers and an increased workforce, McCarthy believes that the police will scare off bb gun vandals and shooters for the time being.
Should BB Guns Be Outlawed?
Although they are less powerful, fire different ammunition, and project the ammo in a different way, bb guns do draw many comparisons to real guns.
Jim Wallace – the Executive Director of GOAL – says that BB guns are often used as a training tool for minors because they are less deadly and provide much less kickback. As an entry level tool into proper gun safety, Wallace would like to see bb guns used more as a serious form of education and safety training rather than toys and tools to commit crimes.
While disheartened that so many people chose to use bb guns for violence and crime, Wallace says that people need to be more concerned with the person committing the crime rather than the tool they are using to commit it. While he offers no immediate solution as to how to prevent bb gun violence in Worcester, Wallace recommends more training with bb guns statewide so that people understand from the time that they are children how dangerous even a toy gun could be.
“I think it is a shame that we don’t have any sort of gun safety courses in schools,” said Wallace. “We have had booths at fairs and other events before where we will have an old muzzleloader; you can really tell who hasn’t had proper gun training. I notice that especially with the urban and inner city children that the proper gun training and safety isn’t there; when they see the muzzleloader they grab right for the trigger.”
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.
Related Articles
- Worcester Crime Stats Mask Problem Areas
- Leonardo Angiulo: Changes on the Horizon for Crime Scene Investigation
- Budget Hearing In Worcester Zeroes in on Crime Lab Scandals
- NEW: Public Health Commissioner Resigns Following Crime Lab Controversy
- Experts Explore White Collar Crime at Clark
- Travis Rowley: The Hate-Crime Hoax–A Liberal Pastime
- MA’s Most Violent Cities and Towns: FBI Crime Data
- MA Advocates Demand Gun Bill Rewrite After Talk with Speaker DeLeo
- Should Domestic Abuse Victims in MA Have Easier Access to Guns?
- AG Candidate Propses Fingerprint Recognition for Guns Sold in MA
- NEW: AG Candidate Naughton Criticizes Tolman Gun Control Proposal
- More than Half of Traceable Guns Seized in MA from Out of State
- NEW: Moms Delivering Petition to Staples HQ to Ban Guns in Stores
- Massachusetts Ranks Third Lowest for Gun-Related Deaths in Nation
- Are Confidential Informants Compromising Crime Fighting in Central MA?
- NEW: Aaron Hernandez Charged With Murder + 5 Gun-Related Charges
- Grace Ross: Trayvon Martin + The Road To Smart Gun Policy
- Gun Money’s Influence in Massachusetts
- From Central Mass to Major League Soccer: Diego Fagundez
- Proposed Gun Law Targets Mental Health, Suitability of Gun Owners
- UMass Lowell Poll: Majority of Americans Favor Gun Control
- Gun Bill Blasted by School Committee Member for Police in Schools
- MA Gun Advocates Demand Rewrite of Gun Violence Reduction Bill
- BB Gun Vandalism on the Rise in Worcester
- Gomez Reverse Gun Position May Split GOP
- MA US Senate Candidates: Who’s Strongest on Gun Rights?
- Paul Giorgio: Massachusetts Needs To Reform Its Gun Laws
- National Gun Rights Group Sets Up Political Base in Worcester
- Arthur Schaper: Gomez, The Globe + Guns
- Anti-Gun Violence Org Calls On Legislature to Tighten MA Gun Laws
- NEW: MA Coalition to Prevent Gun Violence Advocates Stricter Laws
- NEW: Attorney General Wants $1 Billion for Crime Victims
- Crime-Counting Controversy on New England’s College Campuses
- Worcester Emerges As Leader In Handling Juvenile Crime
- Worcester Residents: Crime #1 Issue in the City
- Arthur Schaper: Victimless Crimes in the Bay State
- Crime in Worcester Spirals Higher in Latest National Ranking
- Tom Finneran: The Crime of the Century
- Worcester Districts Debate Efficacy Of Pricey Crime-Fighting Tool
Follow us on Pinterest Google + Facebook Twitter See It Read It