Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden held a town hall-style meeting at the Codman Square Health Center’s Black Box Theater last Wednesday (June 11) where about 50 people heard him talk about his office’s efforts to prosecute crimes and support efforts to deter violence.
“Boston is right now one of the safest major cities in the country,” said Hayden, who also noted that “in certain parts of our city, and predominantly in our communities of color, there are people who will tell me, ‘Boston might be the safest city in the country, but not in my neighborhood, not on my block, not on my street.’”
He added: “We won’t rest until every area of Boston truly feels, believes, and knows that we are in fact the safest in the country.”
Hayden spoke forcefully against the narrative— driven by the Trump Administration — that undocumented immigrants pose a threat to public safety.
“There is no correlation whatsoever,” he said, “between sanctuary status and believing in the rights and protections of due process and basic human rights for all people regardless of immigration status and safety.”
When asked at one point if undocumented immigrants enable crime, he said, “The simple answer is they don’t at all. … there are some things that just aren’t true, whether we want to admit it or not, that are actually a lie from the pit of hell.
“If people are afraid to come to court, if people are afraid to report a crime, if people are afraid to engage with the police around what’s going on in their community because they have concerns over their immigration status or whether or not they might be deported, that has a chilling effect on public safety and a chilling effect on our criminal legal system,” he said.
One of Hayden’s deputies— Joseph Janezic III, who serves as the office’s chief of Crime Strategies Bureau, spoke about challenges specific to Dorchester and nearby neighborhoods. Gunfire incidents in Boston continue to decline, he said, but remain centered in sections of Dorchester and Roxbury.
One initiative introduced to Dorchester District Court last year was the Emerging Adults program (EAP). Led by coordinator Mswati Hanks, who participated in the forum, the effort is billed as an “alternative” to traditional prosecution available to select young adults ages 18-25.
“For years, I was hearing people talking about this population of 18 to 24, 25 young men and women, but that’s all it was, it was talk. I wasn’t seeing much being done,” said Hanks. “Brain development goes all the way up to 25, 26. When you incarcerate someone with a developing brain, it changes that development. It slows it down. You’re changing that person’s trajectory in life. We’re really trying to look at a creative alternative to traditional prosecution.”
The voluntary program lasts anywhere from six months to a year and a half, depending on the participant’s progress.
“If they are able to complete the goals and programs I set for them, their case will be dismissed,” said Hanks. “The case will still be going on simultaneously in court. That way if they are not successful and they do four of the eight months, they’ll still get credit for the time they did and the charges will be broken down accordingly. No time’s lost.”
The meeting also sought to highlight services for younger offenders, too, offered through what Hayden’s office calls the Juvenile Alternative Resolution (JAR) program.
Primarily geared toward first-time offenders, JAR does not accept cases involving firearms, serious bodily injury, or sexual assault. “We know a child’s first encounter with the system is the most meaningful and important time to essentially intervene in their life and try to change their trajectory.”
