EagleTribune.com, North Andover, MA
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Bad memories of drive-by shootings keep chief on top of Lawrence gangs
Published: September 28, 2008
LAWRENCE, Mass. — Police Chief John Romero recalls how he got a rude awakening to the city's gang problems soon after taking command of the Lawrence Police Department.
"The one thing that struck me was how drive-by shootings were such a common occurrence," said Romero, who was hired as chief in early 1999. "Having worked 30 years in New York, I saw a lot of violence. But I was taken back by the level of gang violence that took place here."
One drive-by shooting lingers, a grim reminder of a time when street gangs were terrorizing residents so badly that the city had to call in the FBI and state police to make the streets safer.
"I remember an elderly gentleman in his car getting gas at a gas station on Lawrence Street, when a bullet pierced the radiator of his car and came right through the dashboard and barely missed him," Romero said. "When you have gangs involved in conflicts, many times innocent people get caught in the crossfire. When I came to Lawrence in 1999, the gang problem was at epidemic levels and the city was at a crossroads I never want to see again."
Romero credits outside help — like two grants totaling $100,000 that Essex County District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett recently secured from the federal government — as a good investment in keeping a lid on the gang problem.
One of the grants will focus on guns. It will enable police to buy equipment and increase their presence in the most troublesome areas of the city.
The second grant will concentrate on gangs. It will go to the Lawrence/Methuen Community Coalition to develop anti-gang education and prevention programs in the community.
Blodgett also obtained $100,000 in grants to initiate similar gang and gun programs in Haverhill and Lynn — two other cities in the county which have been plagued by gangs in recent years.
"Where there are gangs, there are firearms," Blodgett said. "The rise in gun violence seen across this nation is something that must be addressed, not only by law enforcement, but by organizations reaching out to help young people make the right choices in their lives.
"There are only two paths for gang members — one path leads to jail and the other path ends in death. We will do everything we can to convince youth who are heading down a violent path to change their course and become productive members of society. It is the most gratifying outcome for all of us," he said.
Romero envisions some of the grant money being used to train school resource officers to conduct a nationally recognized gang resistance program. Programs also will be directed at youth who participate in the Police Athletic League, the chief said.
How bad is Lawrence's gang problem?
With three major "takedowns" involving sweeps with the FBI and state police over the past decade, Romero said "hard-core" gang members have probably dwindled from several hundred to about 40 or 50 citywide.
"We're looking at 200 to 300 kids from the ages of 14 to 18 that we call 'followers,' but they're not 'hard core,'" Romero said. "Their crimes usually involves fistfighting with other gang members. These are the ones who need to have some intervention. If you can get to them and show them a different way, you get them away from that gang lifestyle and into something productive." Ideally, Romero and others hope that the education programs will discourage many city youth from joining gangs long before they are approached and recruited.
The "hard-core" gang members who continue along a path of crime will be dealt with harshly, Romero vowed. The Lawrence police gang unit, headed by Detective Sgt. Charles Carroll, continues to work with county, state and federal agents in an ongoing crackdown that has sent dozens to jail.
The 13 guns that Lawrence police confiscated during a recent two-week span illustrates the need to keep the pressure on, Romero said.
"Clearly, guns play a major role in violent crime. And when gangs were at their height in Lawrence, violent crime went through the roof," Romero said.
"Violent crime is down about 12 percent from last year so far, and last year was the best year we had in years," the chief said.
Romero credits the periodic waves of federal prosecution as key weapons in winning the war on Lawrence gangs.
"When we partnered up with the FBI and state police, everyone realized the best way to prosecute these hard-core individuals would be to take it to the federal level," Romero said.
"Gang members feel comfortable in the county jail because people can visit them. But when you take them federally, they're looking at more time and they could wind up in Montana — away from their loved ones, friends and fellow gang members," Romero said.
