By Patrick McGroarty
News Editor

The recent run of heavily publicized violent crimes in Dorchester, including five murders since January 1, has brought a tornado of self-fueling media and activist scrutiny to the neighborhood. As the mayor and police commissioner have alternated between downplaying the violence - it's a local manifestation of a deadly surge affecting large urban centers across the country - and announcing new enforcement tactics, the Dorchester pastor who has been their loudest critic declared a personal victory Tuesday with a press release announcing the financial gain he stands to make by denouncing what he sees as the city's inaction.

"It has only been several months since Pastor Wall has been on three radio stations and on his own local cable-TV show and advertisers are lining up," read a statement released by Bruce Wall, who runs the Global Ministries Church in Codman Square. It continues with a statement from the pastor: "I cannot keep up with the requests from the entire media outlet who want to speak to me. … I do not know why my words are resonating with so many people."

Wall has long been an outspoken critic of Mayor Thomas Menino and a controversial combatant of violent crime around his parish. Months before the rash of tragic violence and deaths in recent weeks, Wall was flooding a mass e-mail list of media and political contacts with a call for a "state of emergency" around his church in Codman Square, even as the Bowdoin-Geneva neighborhood experiencing a wave of violent crime.

In a phone interview on Tuesday, Wall justified the thought process behind his media blitz and his subsequent plans to capitalize on that publicity.

"We have some momentum in Codman Square, but when I originally called for the state of emergency, I still had some kids dropping there," said Wall, who lives in Hyde Park. "Honestly, if I called for a state of emergency in the entire city, people would be up in arms about their property values. I figured I could do it in my neighborhood. I can't take on the whole city. I'm only one person."

Then, on March 9 Quintessa Blackwell, 18, was shot and killed in broad daylight outside the Holland school, and on March 24 Chiara Levin, 22 years old and a visitor from New York City, was caught in the crossfire of a house party on Geneva Avenue.

Two days later Wall released his boldest statement to date: a warning to all tourists "to think twice about vacationing in Boston." On Tuesday, Wall defended the timing and tone of that statement.

"It took the murder of a young white lady for city officials to say, 'this homicide pains us,' " said Wall. "The intent of [the warning] was to say to tourists, 'you all ought not to come here until we acknowledge that we have a problem.' "

Wall went on to name several events, including the annual Codman Square House tour run by the Ashmont Hill Association, that he believes should include a disclaimer to participants that some of the neighborhoods along the route are unsafe.

"I still think it was a fair warning, especially when tourists don't know what sections [of the city] to go in," he said.

The warning got him notice in both city dailies, and started a cycle of media interest that widened when he partnered with New Yorker Curtis Sliwa and his volunteer army of crime fighters, the Guardian Angels.

Menino and Police Commissioner Edward Davis initially sought to distance themselves from Wall's loud tactics. Menino refused to meet with Wall, and Davis finally sat down with the pastor on Wednesday. More than a week after the violence started to dominate local news cycles, Davis and Menino announced broader proactive measures, with Davis announcing at a press conference Monday that federal prosecutors would be included as partners to add weight to charges and sentences for those involved in violent crimes. On Tuesday afternoon he announced that the party line, a program initiated in Dorchester's C-11 district, would be reinstated as a citywide program.

Elaine Driscoll, Davis's spokeswoman, said yesterday that Wall's criticism had had no effect on the department's decision to roll out new initiatives this week.

"New initiatives that we implement are a direct result of positive dialogues with the mayor, our local state and federal partners, and our community constituents," said Driscoll.

Menino met with city pastors (Wall was not invited) on Monday to discuss proactive strategies against violence , and on Tuesday he announced that 50 ministers had signed onto a plan that included a new partnership between police officers on walking beats and city ministers.

Dot Joyce, a spokeswoman for the mayor, also said that re-engaging the ministers was not a reaction to Wall's outspoken criticism.

"Some of these programs are in the pipeline because of trends that we've seen, but these programs are not pulled together to generate headlines. These are pulled together because there's a need," said Joyce.

Wall, meanwhile, confirmed a report first made in the Boston Phoenix that he was considering a run for the district city council seat in Hyde Park, currently held by mayoral ally Rob Consalvo.

Wall said that a city councilor, whom he would not name, had urged him to run, and that he had met with Team Unity, a block consisting of the council's four minority councilors, to discuss a potential run.

"I was asked to do this, it's not like I was planning to do this," said Wall. "Another person said to me today if the window has closed on time to do a credible council race and raise a lot of issues, why don't you spend the next two years gearing up to run for mayor of Boston?"

Wall's most recent press release says that he will announce whether or not he will run for the council seat during his radio show on April 10. The release is lacking the sort of rhetoric about violence and death that characterizes many of his e-mails. It does, however, highlight his interest in increasing the revenue he generates through his radio show:

"His plan is to secure enough advertisers and syndicate his shows across the country …  Rev. Al Sharpton charges $500 for a 30-second spot on his radio show … Pastor Wall said that Rev. Sharpton is pulling in close to $1,500,000 a day with his radio shows.  This amount of money could fund many youth programs in Boston."

Speaking to the Reporter, Wall pledged that he would commit a portion of the new revenue he is seeking to undetermined "youth programs." But with the last sentence of the release, he insinuates that ego and economics are goals in equal parts. Referencing his upcoming council announcement, Wall writes: "I wonder how many advertisers I could get to purchase time on my show for this announcement?"