A military-style vehicle, marked as Haverhill Police, appears in front of a South Em Street home. (WHAV News photograph.)
Haverhill Rep. Brian S. Dempsey.
For the 11th year in a row, Haverhill is receiving state money to help combat gang violence.
This year’s $82,667 Shannon Community Safety Initiative, announced Tuesday by Rep. Brian S. Dempsey and other members of the city’s legislative delegation, comes after year that included gang-related shootings.
“This grant will ensure that our local police have the tools and resources to combat the encroachment of gangs and address youth violence in the region,” said Dempsey. “It is important that we support and maintain a well- equipped police force that can continue to provide a safe community for all.”
Last May, a 16-year-old male was charged with shooting two rival gang members at Swasey Field, Blaisdell Street. A month later, gunfire on Temple Street was described as another gang’s retaliation. More recently, residents of a South Elm Street home escaped injuries in October after suspected gang members fired bullets during a drive-by assault on the residence.
This year’s state grant is down almost $30,000 from last year.
The money is used for social programs to reach young people and “connect them to positive adults and constructive activities,” supervision or monitoring of gang-involved youth by police, public education about gang and youth violence trends and “strategies to confront the problem.” It also supports a joint effort of the Haverhill and Methuen police forces in their fight against gang violence.
Shannon grants are awarded to communities based on crime rates and high levels of youth violence and gang problems.
“This grant funding will further improve public safety by giving our community the resources necessary to help the Haverhill Police Department, in cooperation with community-based partners, to continue efforts to address youth violence and crime,” said Sen. Kathleen O’Connor Ives.
We get it Jack: you don’t like the Mayor,or liberals, or anyone who doesn’t look or think like you, and you need a hobby other than hating.
It really kills you that you can’t silence people like me on this site from pointing out the FACTS about what a lying, incompetent, corrupt liberal hack you are, huh Nancy1959?
You think I should point out to people on this site what the significance of the screen name Nancy1959 that you use to use on the Eagle Tribune site means?
So we are given money by The Commonwealth of Massachusetts to fight gangs, and yet our esteemed Mayor wants Haverhill to be a sanctuary city. Makes no sense!!!!! AND, we the taxpayers of Haverhill and Massachusetts are forced to pay for all of this insanity.
Slipper, in 1994 8 year old Danny Rodriquez was murdered in Haverhill. Police found his body days later stuffed in the trunk of a car….I’m sure you remember this. If you ever talked to any HPD cop back then they will all tell you that the murderer was well known to all within the department. He was a criminal trespasser in the country illegally. In fact, he had actually been deported several times but kept coming back. Each time he came back he continued to commit more crimes within the city. Liberal policies in place within this city kept releasing him back to his country of origin instead of putting him behind bars for good.
Mayor Failurentini was a Haverhill city councilor in 1994. He has been involved with developing and implementing sanctuary city policies in Haverhill for over two decades now. His silence over the past couple of months after two criminal trespassers in this country illegally dragged a teenage girl into the woods at Riverside Park and raped her confirms his continued commitment to his support of the insanity of sanctuary policies.
If children being murdered, and teenagers being raped doesn’t motivate these insane progressive liberals to deviate from their political agenda nothing will. What needs to happen is for them to be personally sued for malfeasance. They know what’s going on, yet choose to do nothing about it.
The insanity of liberal politicians never ends!
They constantly throw taxpayer money at a problem they themselves have created, and then turn around and boast about their actions.
As long as mayor Daniel Riveria publicly supports Lawrence being an official sanctuary city and the incompetent Haverhill mayor secretly supports the same liberal sanctuary policies nothing will change. 11 years in a row now Merrimack Valley cities receive this funding and the problem is getting worse.
What’s Einstein’s definition of insanity?….Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It’s very appropriate for these liberal hacks…..