The keys components of the Boston Model are: Intervention, Enforcement, and Prevention. The Boston Police Department is convinced that through the use of each of these components they have and will be able to lower crime rates and keep their city streets safer.
The first component of the Boston Model is Intervention. Boston has put together numerous programs that are used to intervene with at-risk or probationary juveniles. The ‘Operation Cease Fire’ program allows law enforcement to swiftly deal with the use of firearms in gang ridden areas. This in turn aids in the disruption of trafficking firearms to youths, especially those involved in gangs. This is a great effort because if the juveniles do not have guns, they cannot commit acts of violence with them.
‘Operation Nightlight’ is another effective program used by the Boston Police and Probation officers. “By pooling knowledge and intelligence, the officers use the restrictions as targeted curfews. Every youngster may not be at rick of offending or becoming a victim, but the program targets those from whom hurting or getting hurt are high probabilities.” (BPD) This program allows the officers to intervene in a positive way to ensure the safety of all youth in the area.
The second component of the Boston Model is Enforcement. “Cease Fire and Nightlight, while primarily interventionist in nature, are also important enforcement tactics. The most dangerous and recalcitrant offenders are subjected to intensive law enforcement and prosecution.” (BPD) The ATIN or Alternatives to Incarceration Network allows officials to enforce the laws while giving alternative areas of incarceration. In Boston offenders do not just go into custody and serve their time. They have numerous services available to them such as: ‘substance abuse counseling, educational programs, individual and group counseling, job skills training and placement , intensive community monitoring, residential place, life skills counseling and violence prevention programs.’ This is quite effective as it allows offenders to rehabilitate themselves and get the help that they need to live a lawful and productive life.
Boston’s Youth Violence Strike Force or YVSF is another effective program in the intervention and enforcement of laws. The YVSF, ‘in cooperation with the city of Boston and the Department of Justice, has used criminal and civil forfeiture laws to help secure the safety of the community by taking over drug dens and renovating them as new homes.’ (Siegel 2006) This program shows a real positive turn around for communities on the track to becoming safer.
The final component of the Boston Model is Prevention. Through the use of youth service officers Boston is able to have a visual presence to prevent and deter possible offenders. These officers work with the schools and youth agencies to interact with the youth through events and activities. To be preventative you need to be out there interacting with the kids in their environment and on their level. Another successful program is the Boston Police Student/Youth Athlete Program. This program is excellent because it gets the youth involved with college athletes as mentors and friends. A lot of juveniles just need a little push in the right direction to keep them on track. This program is a positive way for youth to see that if they apply themselves in the correct manner they could one day serve as a role model for some other at-risk youth. This has potential to motivate juveniles to write their own success stories.
“The best intervention and enforcement efforts are also preventative… In the same way the best prevention programs also produce intervention effects. While the intervention/enforcement/prevention strategy is seen as providing a continuum of services, effects overlap. The strategy has evolved in this way because of the complexity of the overall problem.” (BPD)
The Boston Model itself is a positive step forward for the relationship between law enforcement and the juvenile justice system. The city of Boston has put a lot of time and effort towards a good cause that is having an impact. It would be interesting to see the Boston Model in place in other cities across the nation to see the affect it would have on national youth crime rates.
Boston Police Department. The Boston Strategy on Youth Violence: Intervention, Enforcement, Prevention. Office of Strategic Planning and Resource Development. Accessed March 27, 2008.
Siegel, L. J., Welsh, B. C., & Senna, J. J. (2006). Juvenile Delinquency: Theory, Practice and Law. 9th Ed. Belmont: Thomson Wadsworth.
What is Criminal Justice? 