►
Description
Public Safety & Criminal Justice Hearing - Dockets #1247 and #1248 - Grants
A
A
Good
morning,
ladies
and
gentlemen,
my
name
is
Michael
Flaherty
Boston,
City,
councilor
obligation,
chair
of
the
public
safety
and
criminal
justice
committee.
Today
is
Monday
18th,
and
we
are
here
today
in
the
inl
chamber,
for
hearing
on
Public
Safety
grants
to
be
administered
by
the
Boston
Police
Department.
This
hearing
is
being
recorded
in
being
live
streamed
at
www.boston.gov.
A
City
Dash
console
Dash
TV
and
is
on
Xfinity
8
rcn82
FiOS
964.
It
will
also
be
rebroadcast
at
a
later
date.
Specifically,
the
committee
will
be
hearing
the
following
dockets
that
I
will
now
read
into
the
record
docket
one
two
four
seven
message
and
Order
authorizing
the
city
of
Boston
to
accept
and
expend
the
amount
of
441
825
dollars
in
the
form
of
a
grant
fiscal
year.
22
burn
Justice
assistant,
Grant
local
allocation
awarded
by
the
United
States
Department
of
Justice
to
be
administered
by
the
Boston
Police
Department.
A
A
and
Target
one
two,
four
eight
message
and
Order
authorizing
the
city
of
Boston
to
accept
and
expend
the
amount
of
350
365
dollars
in
the
form
of
a
grant
for
fiscal
year.
2022
DNA
capacity,
enhancement
and
backlog
reduction
program
awarded
by
the
United
States
Department,
adjusted
to
be
administered
by
The
Police
Department
police
department.
A
The
grant
will
fund
two
criminalist
positions,
lab
supplies,
equipment
and
continuing
education
expenses,
and
that
was
also
referred
to
the
committee
on
October,
the
19th
2022.,
the
administration
sponsor
these
dockets,
and
it's
important
to
note
that
if
there
are
members
of
the
public
that
would
like
to
provide
public
testimony
today,
they
may
do
so
now
by
signing
up
on
the
sheet.
As
you
come
in
the
door
to
my
left.
A
A
Boston.Gov
to
request
the
testimony
link
for
public
testimony
via
Zoom
members
of
the
public
can
also
email.
The
committee
email
at
ccc.ps
boston.gov
to
provide
written
testimony
I'd
also
like
to
stress
that
we
need
information
for
people
who
are
providing
public
testimony
via
video
conferences,
especially
if
you
are
dialing
in
with
a
phone
number
or
if
you
have
an
unrecognizable
username.
A
So
please
make
sure
that
your
name
years
on
the
zoom
with
us
today
from
the
administration,
we
have
Maria
Chivas
director
office
of
research
and
development
from
the
Boston,
Police
Department,
and
also
just
an
internal
note
when
it
comes
to
the
public.
Testimony
just
make
sure
that
when
you
start
to
offer
testimony,
you
just
give
a
slight
pause
before
you
give
your
remarks
so
that
Central
staff
has
the
time
to
provide
names
of
those
that
request
to
testify
via
Zoom,
as
well
as
give
the
audio
an
opportunity
to
catch
up
with
your
your
voice.
A
That
said
good
morning
Maria,
it's
always
good
to
see
you
and
I
know
that
these
are.
These
are
repeat
dockets
that
we've
had
discussions
about
in
the
past.
So
if,
if
you
have
no
objection,
I'm
just
going
to
throw
it
right
over
to
you
just
to
make
introductory
Max
tell
us
a
little
about
both
grants,
we'll
take
them
both
at
the
same
time,
okay
and
then
engage
in
some
questions.
If
my
colleagues
arrive
as
well,
they
may
have
some
questions,
but
always
good
to
see
you
and
you
have
the
floor.
Thank.
B
You
so
the
FY
22
Justice
Grant
is
a
grant
that
we
get
every
year,
it's
what
they
call
a
formula
grant
and
it's
based
on
the
crime
numbers
that
we
send
the
FBI
annually,
the
higher
the
crime
numbers,
the
more
the
percentage
comes
back
to
the
city
of
Boston
with
regard
to
the
amount
that
we
get.
So,
although
we
get
the
grant
every
year,
we
tend
to
get
different
amounts
every
year
with
that
we
cover
three
full-time
positions,
all
very
necessary
needed
positions.
B
Through
this
work.
She
does
all
the
data
and
analysis
which
allows
us
to
determine
which
districts
have
the
highest
numbers
of
calls
for
service
and
other
important
data
that
we
look
at
when
it
comes
to
domestic
violence
city-wide
as
well
as
neighborhood
by
neighborhood.
The
second
position
is
a
technology
initiative.
B
B
They
work
with
varying
companies
that
come
into
the
city
of
Boston,
the
Boston
Police
Department
to
test
out
the
products
that
they
are
bringing
into
the
city
around
technology
Innovations,
and
she
recently
the
person
recently
helped
to
put
online
the
new
record
management
system,
which
is
the
Mach
43.
So
that
was
a
recent
project,
but
there
are
other
projects
that
are
always
coming
online
in
terms
of
Technology
within
the
Boston
Police
Department.
B
The
third
position
is
the
Hub
coordinator,
and
the
Hub
coordinator
is
the
most
is.
Is
the
newest
core
is
the
newest
position
that
has
come
on
board
through
this
grant?
I
I
believe
we
spoke
about
the
Hub
a
few
times
right
now
we
have
five
Hub
meetings
each
week
in
five
different
specific
areas.
One
of
them
is
at
the
melnia
Cass.
That
was
the
most
recent
one.
We've
been
convening
those
meetings
with
this
Hub
coordinated
support
with
all
City
agencies
involved
in
the
malnia
cast
response,
as
well
as
multiple
service
providers.
B
There's
a
five
filter
process
within
those
meetings
that
assures
confidentiality
of
those
folks
that
we're
trying
to
work
with
and
help
through,
probably
the
most
difficult
times
in
their
lives.
The
people
that
get
referred
are
the
situations
that
get
referred
to
the
hub
of
the
most
critical
and
when
I
say
that
the
term
that
they
use
is
a
acutely
critical
needs
which
basically
means
if
we
don't
address
them
immediately,
they
could
end
up
in
danger
and
that
could
be
freezing
in
the
middle
of
the
night.
B
Under
a
bridge,
it
could
mean
somebody
who's
in
a
dangerous
domestic
violence
situation,
so
the
the
the
the
broad
range
of
work
that
is
done
through
these
hubs
touches
every
crime
category.
It's
not
just.
There
are
18
risk
factors
that
we
can
give
you
information
on
so
right
now
we
have
one
coordinator
that
supports
five
different
districts
as
well
as
the
as
well
as
the
melnia
Cass
Hub.
The
first
two
were
East
Boston,
which
is
very
successful.
Jamaica
Plain
also
successful.
B
Recently
we
did
B2,
which
is
Roxbury
C11
Dorchester
each
week
about
30
service
providers
meet
with
police
and
they
go
over
very
highly
critical
situations
and
they
work
together
to
do
Outreach
to
the
situation
and
people
involved
in
that
situation
and
to
get
them
what
they
need
within
a
48-hour
period.
So
again,
if
you,
if
you're
interested
in
the
hub
more,
we
can
invite
you
to
one
of
the
link
through
a
link
through
one
of
the
meetings
that
are
that
take
place
on
a
weekly
basis.
B
B
Thanks
the
next,
the
next
Grant
is
also
a
grant
that
we
apply
for
each
year.
As
you
all
know,
the
Boston
crime
lab
is
an
accredited
lab
and
when
it
comes
to
accreditation,
it's
important
that
the
criminologist
in
the
lab
continuously
get
new
and
different
training
based
on
what's
going
on
and
that
in
terms
of
DNA
Technologies
and
how
they
need
to
learn
different
things
to
to
around
testing.
B
So
the
grant
itself
is
called
the
FY
22
DNA
backlog
reduction,
Grant,
it's
from
the
U.S
department
of
justice,
Office
of
Justice
program,
specifically
the
national
National
Institute
of
Justice,
which
is
sort
of
the
research
of
the
Bureau
of
Justice
assistance.
The
amount
is
315
365
dollars
and
the
spending
period
goes
from
10
122
through
which
is
a
two-year
9
30
24..
A
B
We
used
to
report
UCR
crime
time
now
we
put
nybers,
which
is
a
all
crime
categories,
and
so
they
take
these
the
the
data
that
we
send
them,
probably
around
early
March
every
single
year,
and
they
put
that
into
a
formula
and
we
receive
grant
money
based
on
the
numbers
that
we
send
them
in
March.
Regarding
the
previous
year.
B
And
it
it
does,
it
doesn't
often
Spike
because
for
the
most
part,
our
crime
rate
is
lowered
each
year,
and
so
it's
important-
and
we
talk
about
this-
all
the
time
that
that
we
report
properly
and
we
report
every
crime
and
and
with
a
new
record
management
system.
We
believe
we'll
be
able
to
do
that
more
readily
than
probably
the
record
management
systems
in
the
past,
which
will
which
will
show
crimes
in
every
category
which
would
help
us
probably
get
some
some
extra
money
due
to
some
categories
and.
B
A
Then
can
you
just
touch
base
again?
You
had
referenced
that
the
The
Hub
has
some
reach
within
the
mass
and
casts,
and
so
is
it
because
there's
domestic
violence
that's
happening
in
and
around
massacast
or
there
are
victims
of
domestic
violence
that
are
going
down
to
mass
and
gas
and
you're
providing
Social
Services.
B
Yeah,
so
so
the
The
Hub
program
itself
is
designed
so
that,
regardless
of
what
the
crime
category
is,
you
can
bring
a
case
to
that
table.
Okay,
so
in
districts,
let's
say
East,
Boston
and
and
in
C11
and
Roxbury
in
the
neighborhood
districts,
you're
going
to
get
a
broader
range
of
crime
and
when
I
say
crime,
it's
more
people
who
are
brought
to
the
table
because
they
have
risk
factors,
so
it's
risk
factor
driven
versus
crime
driven.
B
So
if
a
police
officer-
let's
say
a
community,
the
head
of
the
community
service
office
comes
in
in
the
morning
and
he
has
these
reports
on
his
desk
and
these
reports
are
actually
referrals.
So
they'll
look
at
these
reports
and
they'll
say:
oh
this
woman
she's
cut
this
poor
woman's
called.
You
know.
There's
been
15
calls
in
the
past
three
months
about
this
particular
situation.
If
we
don't
intervene
right
now
and
do
some
real
work
with
this
family,
she
could
get
very.
She
could
get
hurt.
B
Well,
she
could
get
murdered,
and
so
that
could
be
one
case
and
then
the
next
case
that
they
bring
to
the
table
could
be
simply
a
family
called
and
they
need
help
because
one
of
their
kids,
they
believe,
is
getting
involved
in
in
gangs
and
they're
they're
afraid.
So
then
we
would
bring
a
different
group
of
service
providers
to
that
family
and
try
to
get
that
kid
diverted
into
youth
programming
and
other
Support
Services
homework
help
and
other
support
services.
B
A
That's
great
awesome
and
then
just
shifting
to
docket
one,
two,
four,
eight:
what
types
of
supplies
will
we
will
be
purchased?
You
had
mentioned
sort
of
the
Mark
43,
but
what
what
are
we
looking
in
terms
of
obviously
the
for
the
DNA
capacity
enhancement
and
the
backlog
reduction?
It
says
that
there's
that
the
the
grant
will
provide
the
positions
but
also
lab
supplies
and
equipment
are.
B
B
A
And
then
you
had
also
mentioned
that
Boston's
crime
lab
is
accredited
in
an
honor
to
remain
accredited.
There
are
certain,
obviously
there's
the
criteria.
Training
and
education
can
give
us
a
snapshot
of
of
what
type
of
training
goes
into
that,
and
also
the
impact
that
this
funding
will
have
on
the
caseload.
A
I
have
to
think
that
crime,
a
crime
lab
very
much
like
on
9-1-1,
callers
or
overworked,
and
understaffed
and
yeah,
and
you
know,
I'm
assuming
that
there's
a
lot
of
sort
of
push
and
pull
with
respect
to
our
crime
lab
and,
and
will
this
obviously,
this
funding
impact
or
help
reduce
the
caseload
or
get
the
turnaround
time?
Yes,
it.
B
Does
it
does
help
reduce
the
caseload
without
these
positions
in
the
lab
every
single,
every
single
test
that
they
complete
every
single
case
that
they
work
on?
Would
there
would
not
be
anybody
physically
there
to
take
on
those
extra
cases?
We
could
get
you
specific
numbers
on
on
average,
how
many,
how
how
many
investigations
that
the
crime
lab
is
is
contributing
to.
A
C
You
Mr
chair
and
thank
you
for
holding
this
important
hearing
into
the
work
you're
doing
as
chair
of
the
support
and
committee.
I
also
want
to
acknowledge
and
thank
Maria
for
the
tremendous
leadership
and
professionalism
you
you
are
doing
in
your
position
and
we're
fortunate
to
have
such
a
strong
leader
working
such
as
yourself
in
the
Boston
police
department.
So
I
want
to
acknowledge
the
professional
work
that
you've
been
doing
for
some
for
so
many
years.
C
Maria
I
had
the
opportunity
several
years
ago,
with
City
councilor
Andrea
Campbell
will
soon
be
the
Attorney
General
Mass
attorney
general
to
visit
the
Family
Justice
Center
in
Brighton
on
Commonwealth
Avenue.
Yes,
had
a
great
tour,
had
a
chance
to
talk
to
many
people
there,
including
Boston
place,
but
also
the
the
the
other
Public
Safety
professionals,
providing
incredible
services
to
victims,
especially
impacted
by
domestic
violence.
C
C
What
are
we
doing
on
domestic
violence
as
it
relates
to
immigrant
immigrant
communities,
but
are
we
doing
enough
in
terms
of
the
Outreach
as
it
relates
to
language
and
communication
access
and
trying
to
assist
immigrants?
Many
many
women
that
might
be
in
this
terrible
situation.
But
what
are
what
are
some
of
the
programs
that
we're
able
to
work
with
and
help
victims
of
domestic
violence?
Well,.
B
First
and
foremost,
I
want
to
say
that
whenever
we
hire
a
domestic
violence
advocate
or
sexual
sexual
assault,
Advocate
a
support
services
for
the
human
trafficking
unit
or
the
crimes
against
children
unit,
we
typically
advertise
and
approach
people
who
speak
English
as
a
second
language
and
so
oftentimes
we'll
look
for
people,
obviously,
who
speak
Spanish,
Portuguese
Cantonese
in
other
languages.
So
that's
one
of
the
first
and
most
important
things
that
I
think
we
try
to
do
is
hire
directly.
People
who
speak
you
know
again.
English
is
the
second
language.
B
Secondly,
we
have
about
10
service
providers
that
work
directly
with
us
in
out
of
the
Family
Justice
Center
and
oftentimes.
Our
domestic
violence,
Advocates
and
DV
detectives
will
contact
them
directly
and
get
other
surround
support
services
for
victims
of
domestic
violence.
We
work
with
Casa
Marina
Vasquez,
often,
and
they
have
a
whole
team
of
of
case
managers
and
services
that
they
get
access
that
we
we
work
with
in
order
to
get
access,
oftentimes,
it's
housing,
emergency
housing
and
another
Emergency
Services.
B
There
was
also
other
organizations
in
in
the
Asian
community
that
we
work
with
that
specialize
in
domestic
violence
and
support
for
victims
of
domestic
violence
in
that
Community,
but
beyond.
Just
specific
DV
service
providers.
There's
other
providers
that
we
reach
out
to
to
provide
other
support.
So
there
could
be
housing
Partners.
There
could
be
substance,
use
Mental,
Health,
Support
Services
there
could
be
emergency
needs
that
are
fulfilled.
C
B
C
That's
excellent
I
would
like
to
take
take
the
police
up
on
that
opportunity
and
I'll.
Let
my
my
colleagues
know
about
it.
So
does
that
does
that
crime
lab?
Certainly
it's
certified,
but
is
there
anything
that
that
is
lacking
at
the
crime
lab
that
the
city
council
can
address
through
the
budget
process
next
year?.
B
I
think
that
one
of
the
issues
in
the
crime
lab
is
physically.
The
space
is
very
small
for
them
to
be
able
to
do
the
multiple
different
things
they
do.
We
have
a
Layton
Prince,
we
have
a
Firearms
unit,
we
have
a
DNA
unit,
and
so
there's
about
four
units
that
fall
under
the
crime
lab
and
so
I
think
what
I've
heard
and
I'm
not
I,
can't.
Officially
in
my
position,
you
know
give
you
the
wish
list,
but
I
do
know
that
it
is
pretty
crowded
down
there
and
I
do
know.
C
A
You
Mr
chair,
thank
you
Mr,
President
and
I
Concur,
and
just
also
want
to
read
into
the
record
letter
from
our
colleague,
dear
chairman,
Flaherty
I'm,
writing
to
inform
you
of
my
absence
today
during
today's
city
council
hearings
on
dark
at
1247
in
dark
at
1248.
Our
representative
for
my
staff
will
be
listening
in
and
follow
up
following
up
with
me.
I
look
forward
to
reviewing
the
footage
and
follow
up
as
need
be
I
sincerely
regret
that
I
could
not
attend
this
morning
due
to
Prior
scheduling
commitments.
That
I
must
keep.
B
A
B
A
B
Can
send
you
the
link
to
all
five
meetings?
That's
great,
and
what
we
would
have
to
do
is
send
you
a
confidentiality
form.
You
would
sign
it
and
then
send
it
back.
We
would
send
you
the
link
and
then
you
can
attend
just
to
see
how
wonderfully
these
meetings
were.
It's
nice
to
see
like
25,
service
providers
and
Community
Partners,
really
working
out
and
working
together
to
to
support
people
who
are
in
crisis
right.
A
It's
the
work
that
no
one
sees
or
no
one
hears
about,
but
yeah
it's
a
critical
function
that
we're
playing
partnership
with
the
police
about
in
other
agencies.
If
anyone
here
wishing
to
offer
public
testimony
may
do
so
now
or
forever
hold
your
peace
seeing
and
hearing
no
desire
for
that
Christine.
Anyone
come
in
on
Zoom,
that's
negative
as
well
so
perfect
in
closing,
Marie
appreciate
your
time
and
attention.
Obviously
the
work
that
you
do
and
the
value
you
add
over
the
Boston
Police
Department
as
director
of
office
of
research
and
development.
A
It's
always
a
pleasure
to
have
you
here
to
talk
about
these
very
important
grants
that
are
proud
and
parcel
to
how
we
do
what
we
do
and
how
we're
probably
arguably
one
of
the
best,
if
not
the
best
in
the
country
when
it
comes
to
our
Boston
Police,
Department
and
community
community
policing
efforts,
I
know
with
the
Envy
of
of
cities,
our
size,
bigger
and
smaller
across
the
country.
Because
of
the
way
that
you
know
we,
you
know
police
and
partner
across
the
city.
A
So
with
that,
as
the
chair
with
respect
to
dockets
one
two,
four
seven,
that
is
a
grant
to
the
extent
of
441
825
dollars
to
be
administered
by
the
Boston
Police
Department
from
the
burn,
Justice
assistance
grant
for
domestic
violence
management
analysts
at
the
Family
Justice
Center,
as
well
as
a
hub
and
Center
responsibility
coordinator
and
a
technology
coordinator
and
with
respect
to
docket
one
two,
four:
eight,
that's
a
grant
of
315
365
dollars
through
a
DNA
capacity,
enhancement
and
backlog
reduction.
The
Committee
on
Public,
Safety
and
criminal
justice
will
be
adjourned.