PACT initiative for tackling gang violence could be new 'Boston Miracle'

PACT initiative for tackling gang violence could be new 'Boston Miracle'

Posted by Cara Bayles March 24, 2011 11:57 AM
By Cara Bayles, Town Correspondent

Boston Police Superintendent Paul Joyce has gone on a talking tour around Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury, the neighborhoods he says are the heart of Boston's violence hot spots, where 90 percent of the city's shootings take place.

On Wednesday night, he visited the Greater Four Corners Action Coalition, a group created in response to drug violence in the early 90s, to give his update on the Partnerships Advancing Communities Together program, better known as PACT, which is up for its eight-month review. Joyce said it was his 155 community meeting since July 1, 2010.

PACT combines the efforts of police, street workers, the courts, and education and job programs to target 240 Boston gang members, who are considered responsible for the majority of the city's violence. The program represents a collaborative technique reminiscent of the "Boston Miracle" of the late 1990s, when a partnership between community groups, clergy and police helped to significantly reduce gang violence.

FULL STORY HERE
http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/dorchester/2011/03/pact_initiative_for_tackling_g.html