Haverhill Mayor James J. Fiorentini. (WHAV News photograph.)
In light of Saturday’s Acre shooting, which sent three to the hospital, Mayor James J. Fiorentini said Monday police have increased foot and bike patrols in the neighborhood and more are on the way.
The mayor said the city is also asking for additional help from the state and federal governments and the Essex County Sherriff’s office as well as “targeting the violent gang members.” Fiorentini said he had recently walked the neighborhood.
“Just a day or two before the more recent shooting, I personally walked the beat with these police officers,” the mayor said. “We walked the entire length of Nichols Street. We stopped right in front of the house where the shooting was to take place and played some basketball with the kids who lived in the neighborhood,” he added.
The latest shooting, the fourth in two months, took place Saturday, about 3:15 p.m., outside 40 Nichols St. The mayor said police do not believe the gunfire was random and, quoting his statement, “this was gang related violence and might be retaliation for some other gang related incident.”
Fiorentini said a suspect in a previous shooting was arrested, but arrest logs are not clear about who was arrested, when and what charges were filed.
Besides increased patrols, the mayor said, he will hold a community meeting after Labor Day and brief the City Council at its next meeting. While there are surveillance cameras in the area, Fiorentini noted, investigations have been hampered by witnesses refusing to speak out.
Shortly after Saturday afternoon’s shooting, the mayor said he returned from his beach house and Police Chief Alan R. DeNaro cut his vacation short to personally visit the scene.
Fiorentini, who barely got his budget passed by the City Council in a dispute over hiring more police officers, said he added five police officers to the current budget. Last May, DeNaro presented three scenarios to the council, showing how Haverhill would benefit from either 36 additional officers, 25 more or at least a dozen new hires.
Those who have information about the shootings are asked to call police at 978 373-1212. Anonymous tips are accepted.
I hope the mayor runs for Congress. I think he’d be a great congressman.
Sometimes leadership call for being proactive – rather than reactive. Sometimes leadership requires that you listen to the law enforcement recommendations on how to combat these matters. Walking the beat with the police? Good photo opportunity – probably will be in his state representative campaign brochure – but it solves nothing.
The federal government can help, but only if you’re willing to work with them, that includes work with ICE and state police to weed out those who don’t belong here in the first place, and also to jail those who are repeated offenders who simply refuse to live in a society based on law and order (dirty words to those on the left).
I think it’s time for the Mayor to stop campaigning with free trees and section 8 housing, and actually provide the leadership he purports to be providing now, because as of now – the problem is a distinct lack of leadership and will.
COB, how motivated do you think Federal Law Enforcement officials will be to respond to requests from the mayor or any other group in Haverhill after City Councilor Andy Vargas posted back in February on his Facebook page that ICE was in the city doing their job? The City of Haverhill had an elected official intentionally and knowingly taking steps to interfere with Federal Law Enforcement, thereby helping criminals in the city, and not one other city official called Andy out on it. The mayor at the time went so far as to comment publicly that Andy “does a great job in helping his constituency”. It’s not often you see an elected official state that one of his political ally’s main constituency is criminals in the country illegally.
The mayor created the problem in the city with his open door sanctuary city policies and then stood by and did nothing as a liberal nutjob city councilor took steps to block the efforts of Federal Law Enforcement agents, and advised criminals in the city to hide and seek safe haven. And now he’s going to reach out to them for help? Talk about insanity……
Wonder if 50 White Street (four units) right around the corner is still harboring illegal invaders.
I’m not sure Duncan – do you consider it curious that no names have been released? Or will they ( the press and others) simply state that they were a few ….”Haverhill men”
COB, have you noticed that WHAV has stopped printing the daily police log? It makes you wonder what’s going on, doesn’t it? I think WHAV does a decent job but I can’t help but wonder if they have had their arm twisted just like the ET not to print politically damaging news.
Of course, you and I are in agreement here. Andy is a young guy who is fairly smart enough to look around, see what the political landscape is in Massachusetts ( the low information voters will vote for those who promise free stuff and protection from immigration laws) and vote for Donald Duck if he’s on the ballot.
“Feel good” politics works here, do nothing substantial – and talk in terms of balloons and roses works here.
Telling the truth, and pointing out out key issues of common law and order and civil society parameters is now the equivalent of hate speech or race-baiting. These criminal acts will continue with little to no change until we can be honest about how to deal with them.
Very few, if any elected officials in Haverhill are willing to be honest about it – nothing will change until THAT changes.
It takes a lot of peppers for a politician to walk Nichols Street even with a cop. People may be quick to make fun of this, but this is exactly what leadership is- on the ground , where the problems are, engaging the people and seeing for yourself.
Short sighted flea brains think this can be solved with a magic wand ,for instance, let’s blame it on the Liberals. Those scumbags up there don’t care if you’re liberal or conservative.
The sad part is they’re not killing each other but will eventually kill an innocent person in the crossfire.
Let’s call a spade a spade… it isn’t the neighbors fault and it isn’t the mayor’s fault when some coward hangs a gun out of window and shoots up a neighborhood. Real men, real gangsters don’t shoot up neighborhoods.
I support bringing in the State Police and the feds …crush these insects.
“…a lot of peppers…” That’s funny….
You liberals refuse to connect the dots between liberal, democrat public policy and the subsequent real world affects they cause on the streets across this country. How is it these criminals chose Haverhill to be home? How many forms of state aid and welfare do you think they’re on? How many times do you think these thugs have been convicted of crimes but given weak sentences by liberal judges? How many times do you think they’ve been deported and came right back because of the sanctuary city policies in Haverhill and cities all across the state/country? Do you think it’s just coincidence that they chose to live in a city like Haverhill that chooses to spend more on subsidized welfare housing than on law enforcement staffing?
As long as people like you in this city and state keep electing liberal democrats that provide a state funded social welfare infrastructure to support criminals to come here, crime like this is going to continue.
The Mayor and council are certainly concerned about crime prevention in our city and cant find fault with the chief and our police force. A good step is to hire more new recruits for the department and increase the pay of our police officers
and complete police force. It seems that many of he new appointees come here, get trained and leave for other cities and towns for higher pay. That certainly is not fair to us the citizens. Lower crime rates lead to increased value of the properties which will lead to increased tax receipts. and revenues. We all have a responsibility to protect our neighbor hoods and residents by letting our elected officials know our concerns. If the squeaky wheel gets the grease lets let them know how strongly we support law enforcement.
Ok. so the police chief outlines what is needed to make the city safer. Does the Mayor listen ? Does the city council listen ? Nope ! They do whatever the Mayor wants them to do. This is what happens when you put your political aspirations over what is the right thing to do. So now the shootings are increasing, and they are scrambling to figure out how to stop them. People, get your heads out of the clouds. The Police are severely understaffed for todays’ crime issues. Couple that to the Mayors’ hope that Haverhill becomes a sanctuary city and you have a toxic mix ready to explode.
“investigations have been hampered by witnesses refusing to speak out.”
How can this be? Alice Mann, spokesperson for the liberal, pro-illegal immigration advocacy group The Merrimack Valley Project, says one of the main reasons not to deport criminal invaders is that they provide valuable leads to police.
The mayor welcomes illegal invaders to the city who create the crimes, and like all liberal democrats, instead of dealing with the public policy causing of the problem now wants to throw money at dealing with the affects of the crimes that are being committed.
You know the mayor is running unopposed for re-election when he walks the streets and didn’t even bother to stop for pictures and a photo opp.
Actually he DID do a photo op. Check out his FB page. Did you really think he didn’t take any pictures ? I remember the time he went out to find firefighters shoveling hydrants, two years ago, and took some fake pictures of himself shoveling out hydrants. He showed up with two feet of snow on the roof of the city vehicle he was driving in. Which is against the law. Hysterical. There are some pictures of that somewhere !
Jack, remember last winter when the mayor did a drive around in a DPW truck and had his picture taken leaning out the passenger window….then a week later after just a few inches of snow roads were hardly passable and still unplowed all over the city?
I do remember that one ! I have a good idea what happened. The Mayor said don;t plow because it is going to melt and it didn’t. The Mayor micro manages everything and everyone knows it. Except when money is stolen, then he says it’s someone else’s fault that he hired unqualified people and did NO background checks. Our next Congressman you say ?? Lol