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Website That Maps Springfield Crime Allows People To Report Incidents Anonymously

The Springfield Police Department announced Monday the start of an on-line reporting system that allows people to find out where and when crimes are occurring.

Crimereports.com maps crimes in Springfield showing the block where a crime happened, what type and the time of day it occurred. For instance, if I look up the area near New England Public Radio’s studios, I see there was one assault, one incident of shoplifting, a theft of a vehicle and a car break in (theft from a vehicle) within the past ten days.

The system also  allows people to give the police information and if they want, anonymously.

“One of the biggest problems that police departments have is citizens that don’t call the police or don’t want to get involved,” said Police Commissioner John Barbieri. “It allows them the ability to text us a tip or tweet out something or Facebook us immediately. We need the public’s eyes and ears. The more they help us the more we can help them.”

The website also tells what type of crime is most common and whether crime is going up or down overtime.

Besides Springfield, Westfield and Worcester also have data on crimereports.com or plan to.

The on-line system is part of a $500,000 technology upgrade that will give Springfield Police more information about crimes as they are occurring.

Correction: An earlier version of this story incorrectly listed Holyoke as using — or planning to use — the crimereports.com platform.

Hampden DA-Elect Gulluni Plans To Start A Community Dialogue

In a few weeks, Anthony Gulluni will be sworn in as Hampden County District Attorney. He’s been a prosecutor for more than five years, and will take over the office as relations between communities of color and law enforcement have gained national attention. During the campaign, Gulluni pledged to hold regular public meetings to reach out to everyone in the county. I asked him when he plans to start those meetings.

To hear my conversation with Gulluni, click on the audio player above.

Candidates For Hampden District Attorney Meet In NAACP Debate

The four candidates vying for the open District Attorney’s seat in Hampden County all agree the criminal justice system needs fixing. The candidates met in a debate hosted by the NAACP last night in Springfield.

The main challenge for candidates in this race will be to stand out. All four are white men, all are lawyers, all are Democrats. The candidates, Shawn Allyn, Hal Etkin, Anthony Gulluni, and Brett Vottero, also agreed on most issues. For example, the need to keep juvenile offenders from heading into an already overcrowded prison system.

“If we can keep a young person…out of jail, or out of prison, I think we’re being successful,” said Gulluni. “So the eye has to be on rehabilitation, because we can not incarcerate our way out of the current urban crime problem in particular.”

Brett Vottero, meanwhile focused on improving rehabilitation programs for those leaving prison.

“Right now, somebody comes out of prison, and if it’s a drug offense, they can’t get public housing, they can’t get educational loans, they can’t get public assistance, they can’t get a driver’s license,” said Vottero, “and then we are surprised when they come back in to the system.”

The candidates also each emphasized their work with diverse communities, and were asked after the debate to join the NAACP. Only Shawn Allyn was already a member. No Republicans or Independents are running, so the election will be decided in the Democratic primary on September 9th.

C3 Policing Aims to Combat Gang Violence

The Iraq and Afghanistan wars have introduced the phrase counter insurgency into U.S. jargon. And there is plenty of criticism about the way it’s been implemented in both wars. But what if the method intended to fight insurgents could instead be used to combat gangs in American cities? That’s exactly what three special operations U.S. soldiers decided could be done in Springfield.

Springfield Sees Increase in Violent Crime

Blame it on the heat, the economy, or the summer break from school, but violent crimes in Springfield have gone up significantly in the past week. Police Sergeant John Delaney says the Springfield Police Department has received about a dozen reports of shots fired, with several incidents resulting in injuries or fatalities. Delaney says many of the recent incidents have involved what he calls “street gangs” whose members are between thirteen and twenty years old.

“They run around the streets, they scribble on walls, but they carry guns,” he says. “Just last Friday, a sixteen-year-old was arrested for murder, and then a couple days later we had another sixteen-year-old with a gun near the Forest Park section who was shooting his gun off in the air. [He] thought it was amusing until he was arrested, and the gun was recovered.”

Delaney adds the recent shootings have not been random.

“They are shootings where the intended victim was shot at, and the people that are doing the shooting are getting arrested.”

Delaney says despite the recent violent altercations, crime on the whole – including break-ins, robberies, and assaults – has been down in the city.

Boston has also seen a surge of violence in recent weeks, including  a shooting that killed three 22-year-old women and wounded another in the Dorchester neighborhood on Sunday night.

New Report Shows High Crime in Mass.

A review of data in Massachusetts shows the state has the highest rate of violent crimes in the northeast.The Massachusetts Health Council has just released its bi-annual report about health and social trends.The report – which used information from the FBI, hospital emergency rooms, and the Massachusetts Medical Society, also includes recommendations for policy makers.WFCR’s Susan Kaplan spoke with Susan Servais the council’s executive director.