City representatives held a closed-door assembly with first responder unions to debate how the mayor plans to handle the uptick in violence occurring at Massachusetts Avenue and Melnea Cass Boulevard this summer time, her workplace stated.
Much of the dialogue centered on an ordinance the mayor is contemplating, that will give the Boston Police Department extra authority to implement the town’s anti-encampment coverage at Mass and Cass, an individual aware of Wednesday’s assembly advised the Herald.
Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stated final week that she was contemplating the ordinance, stating that tent encampments are contributing to elevated violence, by concealing weapons and the incidence of drug and human trafficking.
“City representatives met with unions comprising workers that work in and around Mass and Cass,” a Wu spokesperson stated. “While we’ve had several housing and recovery successes in the area since January 2022, we recognize serious challenges remain.”
The spokesperson added, “It is crucial to engage our labor partners for input as we work to adjust our strategy for balancing two goals of getting more people into recovery services and housing placements, and guaranteeing our workers can execute their jobs safely and effectively.”
The attendees included City of Boston workers each from public security and civilian departments, in addition to personal sector well being care, the spokesperson stated.
An individual aware of the dialogue stated the Wu administration was making an attempt to gauge whether or not the unions would assist an anti-encampment ordinance. The mayor was not current on the assembly.
City representatives mentioned drafting an ordinance throughout the subsequent couple of weeks, the supply stated, which aligns with what Wu stated at a press convention final week.
The Wu administration is pushing for City Council approval by the tip of the 12 months, however is worried about potential backlash and a constitutional problem from a gaggle just like the American Civil Liberties Union, the supply stated.
The ACLU has threatened or filed lawsuits in opposition to different massive cities which have taken motion to filter homeless encampments in previous years.
While Wu’s Mass and Cass coordinator Tania Del Rio advised reporters final week that the town’s new give attention to enhancing public security within the space will happen alongside efforts that join folks with housing and habit remedy alternatives, plans for a possible ordinance have already brought about some alarm.
“Banning tent encampments is tantamount to criminalizing homelessness,” stated Dr. Mark Eisenberg, who makes a speciality of HIV major care at MGH-Charlestown HealthCare Center. “Disrupting this neighborhood the place folks look out for one another doesn’t improve anybody’s security.
“Pushing people out of sight and into the shadows substantially increases the risk of violence, unsafe drug use and accidental overdose.”
Wu stated final week that the ordinance would give extra enamel to an government order already on the books, probably referring to the one signed by former Acting Mayor Kim Janey within the fall of 2021.
That order aimed to get folks out of tents and into beds, the Herald reported on the time, with Janey stating that an arrest for lack of compliance could be a “last resort” aimed toward getting the individual right into a diversionary program like drug court docket.
The troubled space drew a go to from the nuns of Dorchester’s Missionary of Charity, who handed out sweet and spoke with the individuals who congregate there on Wednesday.
A sister who spoke with the Herald stated the order has visited Mass and Cass twice every week for a few years, however “it’s really getting worse, which is very sad.”
“It’s nothing new to be surprising us because we have seen this many places as well, but it’s shocking to see the way the people have ended up with their life,” the sister stated. “We are not there to judge them or anything, but we are there to be with them, to pray for them.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”