TITO RIPS CITY’S SAFETY
Hits Walsh on leadership
Mayoral candidate Tito Jackson ripped Mayor Martin J. Walsh over his “abdication of leadership” after the Herald reported a sharp spike in the number of people wounded by gunfire this year.
“The mayor should hold himself accountable,” Jackson told the Herald yesterday.
“This is complete mismanagement, an abdication of leadership. The mayor has an inability to show he has connectedness to lead the city and ensure safety in the streets,” the city councilor said.
“People in communities across the city are frustrated and disappointed and seeking strong leadership. As mayor of the city of Boston, that is what I will provide.”
Jackson’s salvo came as Walsh and police Commissioner William B. Evans led a 90-minute meeting of officials and community leaders in City Hall to come up with new ways to address the violence. A Herald report yesterday revealed a dramatic 30 percent increase in nonfatal shootings this year, mostly in the minority neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Roxbury.
“What Boston needs is a comprehensive, thoughtful strategy, but it’s received a mayor who has continuously gloated at what he described as the safest city in America,” Jackson said. “His downplaying of the reality in the streets is dangerous and has caused harm in the community.”
Walsh and Boston police are scrambling to brainstorm solutions amid the sweltering, often violent summer months. Jackson specifically pointed to the Herald report, saying all gun violence should be a top priority for police.
“The focus has to be squarely on the number of shootings,” Jackson said. “A 30 percent increase in shootings should be looked at as a potential 30 percent increase in homicides.”
But Walsh hit back, saying he’s working to “double down” on efforts to prevent violence in Boston, and he slammed Jackson for playing politics with the bloodshed.
“What’s sad is that Councilor Jackson is trying to score political points off violence in the streets of Boston,” Walsh said when told of Jackson’s criticism. “That’s all I have to say about that.”
The war of words between the two mayoral rivals comes as Dorchester saw another fatal shooting early yesterday morning, and a 15-year-old boy was arraigned on murder charges for allegedly stabbing an 18-year-old man to death in Dudley Square.
Jackson has frequently criticized Walsh over neighborhood safety during his campaign, but has not made headway against an incumbent mayor with a multimillion-dollar war chest.
After the City Hall meeting, Walsh said officials would concentrate on working with 12- to 14-year-olds who are too young to work but too old for summer camp. Boston Centers for Youth and Families would be open later and potentially have a police presence so families feel safer sending their children there, Walsh said.
The mayor also said he would try drawing more kids into the city’s Summer Jobs program.
“It’s not new strategies, it’s about targeting kids who didn’t sign up for summer jobs, targeting young people hanging around,” Walsh said. “We’ll absolutely double down.”
But Jackson was not impressed. “We’re in the middle of summer figuring out a plan to stop violence in the city of Boston,” he said. “We will plan for the summer as soon as I’m sworn in, in January.”