Interesting how the Fitchburg chief can see how ineffictive gun buybacks are, but the young, liberal politician on the make can't:
http://sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_4032805
Councilor urges gun buyback
By Jonathan Graham
Sentinel & Enterprise
FITCHBURG -- The city's gunplay is getting worse, matching trends across the country, but there is no one-step solution, Police Chief Edward Cronin said this week.
"Generally speaking, the use of guns have gone up," Cronin said, explaining that many of the many guns reach the street through theft from homes and businesses.
Fitchburg police work a lot with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to control gun crime in the city, Cronin said.
But he said figuring out an easy way to get guns out of local criminals' hands is a difficult thing to get a handle on.
"There isn't anything hard and fast about where the guns are coming from," Cronin said. "The problem is there are so many transient people coming in and out of the city."
Police arrested two New Hampshire men in connection with a Main Street convenience store robbery last week where the suspect used a Mini-14, a high-capacity rifle, to shoot the clerk.
One of those two men is also charged in connection with an armed robbery two days earlier on Mechanic Street, in which the suspect used a sawed-off shotgun.
Several other serious gun crimes have already struck the city this year, including a daytime shooting outside the Fitchburg District Court in which no one was injured, and the shooting of Fitchburg resident Gamba Payton near Main Street at 2 p.m.
Cronin said a gun buyback program may not be a good route to reduce gun violence, expressing skepticism about how well it has worked in other cities.
He said studies into buyback programs have not endorsed them.
"They don't recommend it as an effective measure," Cronin said. "I go by the state of the art in research."
Cronin said in an earlier interview that a big focus has to be on why local youth turn to guns so quickly to solve problems.
But At-large Councilor Dean Tran said good cities develop plans, like gun buyback programs, to get illegal guns off the street as quickly as possible.
A bad city has no programs, which is where Fitchburg stands now, Tran said.
"It's a worthy program, and it's something the city of Fitchburg should explore and possible implement," he said.
Tran said gun violence is not unique to Fitchburg, but because the city has a large number of low- and medium-income residents, it is more at risk.
"You can't tie the gun program to any particular city, because the guns travel to where the people carry them," Tran said.
Tran said gun buyback programs in Worcester and Boston are proving to be very successful.
The Worcester buyback program claims to have received 800 guns over the last three years, given in exchange for gift certificates to local retailers like Wal-Mart.
Worcester and Boston officials give those who turn in weapons gift certificates to local retailers, without asking any questions about the gun's origins.
Tran said he tried to get Fitchburg to lead a North Central Massachusetts-wide gun buyback program, but the police department did not express much interest.
Tran said he views the two cities' programs as successful by the fact they pulled guns off the street.
"The chief expressed the same sentiment to me in the past, that he read some studies from the Lt. Governor that these programs are not successful, but so far, both programs that have existed in Massachusetts have proven that wrong," he said.
"The success of the programs are measured by the amount of the guns brought in, whether its one gun or thousands of guns," Tran added.
But Tran said the shooting of a clerk at a Main Street convenience store this past week might spur other city officials to look at a program in Fitchburg.
"A program like this, many elected officials would love to participate and help out, as long as theirs a go-ahead message from the police department and the mayor's office," Tran said.
But the value of a gun buyback program is not yet proven, said Glenn Pierce, an expert on gun violence at Northeastern University's College of Criminal Justice.
"Those programs, there are certainly questions whether that kind of thing is effective," Pierce said. "Those questions haven't been answered."
Gun buyback programs work as a part of a larger community effort, and are most effective at sending a message to residents, Pierce said.
"What it does in a positive perspective is send a message, that we don't want guns in the street, that we don't want guns in that hands of people who shouldn't possess them legally," Pierce said. "But you want to be clear about other parts of your message too, that if you do use a gun, not legally there'd be severe consequences."
That message must permeate every layer of a city, especially among community leaders who have knowledge the police do not, Pierce said.
"You have to be getting information coming from the street, getting information about potential problems from gangs," Pierce said. "You can go to individuals and go to groups, and you have to be able to identify these groups."
Pierce said if relations between police and community are sour, the police are at a disadvantage.
"If you don't have good relations ... you may not get as much information back about where to focus your resources," he said.
Solid police work to track down where the gun supply is coming from also helps reduce the number of weapons on the street, Pierce said.
But sometimes police work is not enough to solve the problem, Pierce said.
"There's always the issue that these questions go beyond the scope of guns," he said. "Transient criminals, maybe something associated to economic conditions. These are things that go beyond certainly the gun problem, and maybe beyond a policing issue."
http://sentinelandenterprise.com/ci_4032805
Councilor urges gun buyback
By Jonathan Graham
Sentinel & Enterprise
FITCHBURG -- The city's gunplay is getting worse, matching trends across the country, but there is no one-step solution, Police Chief Edward Cronin said this week.
"Generally speaking, the use of guns have gone up," Cronin said, explaining that many of the many guns reach the street through theft from homes and businesses.
Fitchburg police work a lot with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms to control gun crime in the city, Cronin said.
But he said figuring out an easy way to get guns out of local criminals' hands is a difficult thing to get a handle on.
"There isn't anything hard and fast about where the guns are coming from," Cronin said. "The problem is there are so many transient people coming in and out of the city."
Police arrested two New Hampshire men in connection with a Main Street convenience store robbery last week where the suspect used a Mini-14, a high-capacity rifle, to shoot the clerk.
One of those two men is also charged in connection with an armed robbery two days earlier on Mechanic Street, in which the suspect used a sawed-off shotgun.
Several other serious gun crimes have already struck the city this year, including a daytime shooting outside the Fitchburg District Court in which no one was injured, and the shooting of Fitchburg resident Gamba Payton near Main Street at 2 p.m.
Cronin said a gun buyback program may not be a good route to reduce gun violence, expressing skepticism about how well it has worked in other cities.
He said studies into buyback programs have not endorsed them.
"They don't recommend it as an effective measure," Cronin said. "I go by the state of the art in research."
Cronin said in an earlier interview that a big focus has to be on why local youth turn to guns so quickly to solve problems.
But At-large Councilor Dean Tran said good cities develop plans, like gun buyback programs, to get illegal guns off the street as quickly as possible.
A bad city has no programs, which is where Fitchburg stands now, Tran said.
"It's a worthy program, and it's something the city of Fitchburg should explore and possible implement," he said.
Tran said gun violence is not unique to Fitchburg, but because the city has a large number of low- and medium-income residents, it is more at risk.
"You can't tie the gun program to any particular city, because the guns travel to where the people carry them," Tran said.
Tran said gun buyback programs in Worcester and Boston are proving to be very successful.
The Worcester buyback program claims to have received 800 guns over the last three years, given in exchange for gift certificates to local retailers like Wal-Mart.
Worcester and Boston officials give those who turn in weapons gift certificates to local retailers, without asking any questions about the gun's origins.
Tran said he tried to get Fitchburg to lead a North Central Massachusetts-wide gun buyback program, but the police department did not express much interest.
Tran said he views the two cities' programs as successful by the fact they pulled guns off the street.
"The chief expressed the same sentiment to me in the past, that he read some studies from the Lt. Governor that these programs are not successful, but so far, both programs that have existed in Massachusetts have proven that wrong," he said.
"The success of the programs are measured by the amount of the guns brought in, whether its one gun or thousands of guns," Tran added.
But Tran said the shooting of a clerk at a Main Street convenience store this past week might spur other city officials to look at a program in Fitchburg.
"A program like this, many elected officials would love to participate and help out, as long as theirs a go-ahead message from the police department and the mayor's office," Tran said.
But the value of a gun buyback program is not yet proven, said Glenn Pierce, an expert on gun violence at Northeastern University's College of Criminal Justice.
"Those programs, there are certainly questions whether that kind of thing is effective," Pierce said. "Those questions haven't been answered."
Gun buyback programs work as a part of a larger community effort, and are most effective at sending a message to residents, Pierce said.
"What it does in a positive perspective is send a message, that we don't want guns in the street, that we don't want guns in that hands of people who shouldn't possess them legally," Pierce said. "But you want to be clear about other parts of your message too, that if you do use a gun, not legally there'd be severe consequences."
That message must permeate every layer of a city, especially among community leaders who have knowledge the police do not, Pierce said.
"You have to be getting information coming from the street, getting information about potential problems from gangs," Pierce said. "You can go to individuals and go to groups, and you have to be able to identify these groups."
Pierce said if relations between police and community are sour, the police are at a disadvantage.
"If you don't have good relations ... you may not get as much information back about where to focus your resources," he said.
Solid police work to track down where the gun supply is coming from also helps reduce the number of weapons on the street, Pierce said.
But sometimes police work is not enough to solve the problem, Pierce said.
"There's always the issue that these questions go beyond the scope of guns," he said. "Transient criminals, maybe something associated to economic conditions. These are things that go beyond certainly the gun problem, and maybe beyond a policing issue."
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