Roxbury residents worry about violence
Less than 24 hours after a brazen fatal shooting in broad daylight on Homestead Street, Roxbury community members spoke out against the violence that took the life of a still-unidentified victim.
“It’s out of control. We need something. We need help from the police,” 30-year-old Jaakan Grimes of Roxbury said. “It’s my community so of course I’m concerned and I’m worried. We need opportunities so that kids stay away from all of the street stuff.”
Grimes joined more than 100 people on hand for the ninth annual “Save R Streets, Silence the Violence” basketball tournament at Jeep Jones Park.
Mayor Martin J. Walsh and Boston police Commissioner William B. Evans were also in attendance to interact with the community and present awards to members of the public who have made a difference in curbing gun violence.
“A lot of these young people that are caught up in some of the violence in our city, they’re not bad kids,” Walsh said. “We need to figure out how we get to them in a positive way rather than arrest them and put them in jail through the penal system, and that’s what this tournament’s about.”
Adults at the event also spoke about the community’s effort to stem the tide of violence, while acknowledging more can be done to engage youths.
“At this point weather isn’t a factor, lack of having a preparation plan in place is,” said Roxbury resident Monica Cannon Grant. “We need a strategic effort instead of ignoring the problem and hoping it goes away.”
Evans said more officers have been out on the street in the past week but ultimately the issue is gun access.
“The mayor and I have continually stressed there’s way too many guns in the streets that need to be taken off, because we can’t step between two people that want to shoot each other,” Evans said. “Obviously we’ve just got to work on the shootings; they’ve been more deadly this year and that’s the only stat really that we’re up on.”
Keta West, 36, of Dorchester said it is important to be in a place where everybody knows each other and where everybody has each other’s back during the summer.
“I’m always concerned about the violence,” she said. “I think they do what they can. There’s always more they can do . ... You can say more community involvement, more police interaction, but they do the best they can do.”