The purpose of sharing the story of how a strategy emerged in Boston is to bring to light all of the change—changes in thinking and changes in behavior, both individual and institutional—that set the process in motion and made it work. In the words of U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts, Don Stern:

Anybody who thinks that what happened in Boston is an off-the-shelf strategy which then can be adopted for any community, without the human capital investment, is wrong. That is a critical component. And it’s time-consuming, and you make mistakes. And sometimes the honesty and trust that are needed to make this work means you hear things you don’t like to hear. Such as ‘Why are doing this?’ or ‘Why aren’t you listening?’ or ‘Why aren’t you doing this better?’ And unless you’re prepared to hear that—and not just hear it but pay attention to it and maybe adjust your activities accordingly—then it just isn’t going to work.

As Boston’s story shows, programs, principles, and process are interrelated. All were critically important to the city’s success in reducing the level of youth homicides. At the same time, considered separately, each holds lessons for people who wish to understand, emulate, or adapt and build upon Boston’s experience.

The Process that Produced The Boston Strategy

• Solutions emerged on the front lines
  • When adults were open to looking at the situation, themselves, and other people in new ways; and when they began to act differently as a result
    
    
  • When cross-boundary conversations began at the street level
    
    
  • When supervisors permitted and supported experimentation
    
    
• A coordinated approach emerged
  • When cross-boundary conversations began at high levels
    
    
  • When front-line solutions received high-level attention
    
    
  • When a focused problem-solving initiative brought together the right mix of people in a neutral, analytical, action-oriented exercise
    
    
• Collaboration was possible because
  • Adults set aside all the things they disagreed on for the one thing they all agreed on: that children shouldn’t die
    
    
  • People were willing to leave their egos—personal and organizational—"at the door," and to acknowledge that no one agency could solve the problem of youth violence on its own
    
    
  • Individuals forged informal relationships: they responded to requests for help and they delivered on what they promised
    
    

Principles Behind the Programs

• Gang members are young people in trouble: they do not want to die; they need help from adults
  
  
• Adults can begin to help when they work together toward a single, shared goal—keeping kids alive
  
  
• In the right circumstances, most young people will make good decisions: adults can create those circumstances by providing realistic alternatives to the life of violence in the streets, as well as unpleasant consequences for those who choose violence

Law Enforcement Programs

Operation Night Light

• Teams of probation and police officers conduct nighttime street patrols and curfew checks on youth probationers
  
  
• When levels of gang violence are high, strict enforcement of the terms of probation, with jail sentences for violations, helps to get kids off the street and out of trouble
  
  
• Long-term, the focus of the program is on providing an excuse for kids to stay home at night and on building relationships that support them in making good choices

Operation Cease Fire

• A communications program delivers a clear message: we know who you are and are watching; we are ready to help you if you choose to be helped; but we will not tolerate violence; if you choose violence, the consequences will be as severe as state and federal law can make them—that is, very severe
  
  
• Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies mount joint crackdowns on gangs that persist in violence, using, in particular, federal violations to obtain long prison terms for the most hard-core offenders
  
  
• Long-term, the program operates in a preventive mode, in which the Cease Fire partners talk to groups of at-risk youth in schools

This is just a selection of the many programs contributing to the Boston Strategy. See The Programs for details:

• Boston Gun Project
• Boston Jobs Project
• Boston Private Industry Council
• START (Student Attendance)
• Brighter Horizon
• Community Based Juvenile Justice
• Fatherhood Program
• G.R.E.A.T. (Gang Resistance)
• Juvenile Service Providers Team
• MatchPoint
• Operation Cease Fire
• Operation Night Light
• Street Smarts Initiative
• Summer of Opportunity
• Youth Service Providers Network
• Youth Violence Strike Force

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