By Martine Louis
Reporter Staff

A new Boston Police tactic aimed at taking guns off the streets by conducting voluntary searches of neighborhood homes is being met with cries of protests from some and scores of questions. The Safe Home program, currently in its development stages, would allow unwarranted home searches by teams of police who would enter with parental consent.

Last Tuesday, Boston Police Deputy Gary French, who would supervise the program, explained its concept at a community meeting at the William Monroe Trotter Elementary School.

"We are doing what we have to in order to prevent tragedies," said Deputy French. "This is not about targeting youths and carrying people out in handcuffs. This is a recovery program. We are trying to provide youths and their families with the support they need."

Police officials have stressed that the targets of the Safe Home project are not hardened criminals or so-called "impact players" that are already known to police and suspected in other crimes. The audience for this project are young people who may "be headed down the wrong path" and their parents who may suspect that an intervention is needed.

French explained that a list of homes targeted would be kept separate from a larger police database of current investigations. In cases involving the discovery of "significant" drug or weapon caches, the household would be frozen as officers obtain a search warrant. Otherwise, he said, no incidents will be reported and no prosecutions will be made, unless ballistics testing shows that a confiscated gun was used in the commission of a crime. Juveniles discovered to be hiding weapons will be offered placements in social service programs where officers will track their progress.

"The big advantage is to take away guns and help build productive young adults," said French. "We have licensed social workers available to work with these children and help them gain access to positive resources."

As parents, youths and community leaders absorbed details of the program police hope to implement in several neighborhoods, including Dorchester's Bowdoin-Geneva, Franklin Hill-Franklin Field and Grove Hall sections, a heated debate developed among the audience at the Trotter School.

As a voluntary program, French explained that everyone has the right to refuse a warrant-less search.

"We cannot force our way into the homes of those who deny us access. This program is for those who want to participate," he said.

Dorchester resident Amaya Atkins thought that policy defeats the purpose of the program.

"It makes no sense," said Atkins. "In many cases, the people who are refusing are doing so because they have something to hide. If your objective is to take guns away from kids, does that just go away because they won't let you in?"

Another resident, Lidia Nova worried that the lack of prosecution offered a "free pass" for those involved in illegal activities.

"We need to look at it from the view of the parents of future victims," said Nova, a mother of three. "If a child is found with a firearm and you just let them go, what happens if they do it again? What happens if they go and kill someone? You had them, you could have stopped them, but you let them go. How do you think the parent of the victim will feel?"

Though Safe Home allows parents to request the search of their homes, French stressed that so-called "impact players" are not the chief targets of the program.

"We know who they are and the crimes they have committed, but we cannot go into their homes," said French. "We would need to open an investigation across the city to ensure we would not be interfering with current investigations in regards to those cases."

Project R.I.G.H.T. counselor Ra'Shaun Nalls says exempting impact players seemed to contradict to the mission of Safe Home.

"With this initiative you would think this opportunity was open to all - especially impact players. If they are the most dangerous ones out there, why not work towards them? How does removing a firearm from an impact player interfere with a current investigation?"

"It does not make sense to turn down those families seeking help," Nalls said.

There is not yet a firm date for the launch of Safe Home, but French says the BPD will continue to host similar meetings in order to spread awareness and build community concerns into the program.

"We welcome all questions and critiques," said Dep. French. "These meetings are a piece of the puzzle in establishing a program that will make our neighborhoods safer."

French said Safe Home will initially focus on high-risk neighborhoods and, after a six-month period, the effectiveness of Safe Home will be evaluated and possibly expanded into a citywide program.

City Councillor Chuck Turner expressed concerns about the program and called for his council colleagues to join him in sponsoring a hearing.

"I share the concerns of the police department, but is their approach real?" Turner said. "They may say they are asking for permission to search these homes, but there is an intimidation within the presence of three officers at one's door.

"If they want to make a difference, there is a minimum of 11,000 youths out of school and unemployed. Rather than searching for guns, work on identifying those who are in need of after school programs, mentoring services and employment," said Turner.

Elaine Driscoll, a spokesperson for BPD Commissioner Edward Davis, said that the department welcomes the chance to get feedback on the program.

"We don't have a solid launch date," Driscoll said. "We'll move forward on this only after we've done as much outreach as we can, and answered as many questions as possible. We're very much in the awareness phase right now."