Raymond DeGraca, 56, entered a guilty plea in Suffolk Superior Court Tuesday for reporting a false car accident with a fake identity and lying under oath, among other charges. In October 2002, DeGraca registered his car using a Rhode Island driver's license with his own picture but using his brother's information. The following year, he falsely claimed to his insurer, the Amica Mutual Insurance Company, that his vehicle was hit by another driver.  Read more

Access to substance abuse treatment for all regardless of income, mandatory K-12 bullying and violence prevention programs, and aggressive steps to reduce access to illegal firearms are among the anti-urban violence recommendations released last Thursday by the governor's Anti-Crime Council.

Other recommendations include immediate steps to offer reentry supports to violent offenders, job training for individuals between 14 and 22 years old, and the establishment of ways to immediately respond to and treat children who witness violence.  Read more

Statistics released this week by the Boston Police Department show a slow-down in serious crime across the city, with significant reductions in our neighborhood's two main police districts, C-11 and B-3, compared to last year's figures. The good news is relative: Homicides are well up this year in C-11, where 2008 began with a flurry of gun violence that has slowed, but not ceased, in recent months.  Read more

Three of five adults involved in a brutal youth gang beating that took place in Fields Corner in August, 2007 have been sentenced. Two others have court dates in early December.  Read more