Revere councilors want cops to bust loitering teens

REVERe-School is out, summer is in full swing and City Council members think some local youth are spending too much time passing their time on local streets.Ward 6 Councilor Charles Patch and Council President Daniel Rizzo have filed motions for review at this afternoon’s council meeting calling for police to keep teenagers from congregating in public areas. The pair say their proposals were triggered by complaints, including what Patch described as “numerous” complaints about youths hanging around Broadway from Reservoir Avenue to Cushman Avenue, specifically around Broadway Mart.Patch wants police to renew the former “lock and walk” program on Broadway involving police patrols. Rizzo also wants Chief Terance Reardon to increase patrols between Yeaman Street and Prospect Avenue to disburse what he described as “crowds of teenagers” who loiter on the streets.Rizzo said he has received complaints of teens blocking sidewalks and double parking.Teenagers are drawing praise from Ward 3 Councilor George Rotondo who plans to take time at today’s meeting to praise the Boston-based “Yo Boston Boys” for cleanup efforts around the city, specifically on Broadway.Police focus on youth-related problems is aimed partly at ensuring gang violence does not break out in the city this summer and into the school year.Revere police work with Lynn counterparts and State Police to crack down on gang activity on Shirley Avenue and along Revere Beach.Mayor Thomas Ambrosino has called for a local revival of neighborhood crime watch groups to combat gang violence. He said the city must match crime prevention efforts by working with social service organizations and other communities to provide young people with alternatives to gang life including jobs, after school activities and mentors.Reardon supports giving police officers authority to arrest probation violators as an effective way to crack down on youth gangs.He said police officers armed with the authority to arrest probation violators could help probation officers track down gang members who violate conditions of their probation after being convicted of a crime.Probation officers currently are the only authorities allowed under state law to arrest probation violators.Probation conditions for gang members and other individuals typically bar alcohol use and set conditions on the company the person on probation keeps, places that person visits and hours of the day the person is allowed outside of home or a work place.Reardon said there are not enough probation officers to ensure that an estimated 150,000 individuals on probation comply with the restrictions placed on them.He said that half of the individuals on probation violate probation terms and only a fifth are caught and held accountable. The others, including gang members, repeatedly violate probation terms and sometimes commit new crimes.Reardon said giving police officers probation arrest powers is “far more effective in reducing gang activity” than more controversial proposals, including ones debated in the city of Somerville, that run the risk of violating gang members and other individuals’ civil rights.