Isaac Yablo, Mayor Michelle Wu’s senior advisor for community safety, says a shortcoming of efforts to rein in those responsible for gun violence in Boston has been that “we gave them the wrong diagnosis and therefore [applied] the wrong solution.” 

He says the nature of gun violence in the city has changed significantly since the bloody days of the 1980s and early 1990s, when city streets were wracked by gang violence that sent Boston’s homicide count soaring. Homicide numbers are down dramatically since that time – the city recorded 40 homicides in both 2022 and 2021 compared with 152 in 1990. 

But that’s not the only change. Unlike the era of gang-driven violence when lots of perpetrators and victims were in their late teens and early 20s, Yablo said perpetrators and victims of gun violence today are older – and harder to reach through traditional services like job training or connecting them with programs to complete high school. 

The average age of those shot in Boston so far this year has been 29, said Yablo, and it has averaged at least 25 for nearly a decade. Although there are troubling trends of young people carrying guns, Yablo said they largely are not the ones responsible for actually using them. 

“The gun violence problem in Boston is not a youth issue,” he said. “It’s older people who have been disconnected from prosocial programming for a while.” He said a lot of them are suffering from mental health issues that they won’t simply “grow out of” without appropriate treatment. 

Yablo is the point-person for a new city initiative that aims to reduce gun violence through a coordinated effort of police, health workers, and a reconstituted street outreach worker program. 

The Gun Violence Reduction Management Team plans to hold weekly meetings where its members can share information on trouble that has recently occurred – or that may be brewing, based on what those with their ears to the ground are hearing. 

At the heart of the effort is a recognition that a tiny number of people are responsible for most of the gun violence in the city, and that it generally occurs in very specific “hot spot” locations. Yablo, with his focus on getting people to turn away from gun violence, prefers to refer to those areas as “opportunity zones.” 

Zeroing in on gun violence hot spots is not new. But Yablo said a strong bent toward services is something different. 

“I would say this is the first time in the city’s history where we have had a focus not on locking them up but connecting them with high-quality services so they can desist from gun violence,” he said. 

The city gained national notoriety for its success in driving down gun violence in the mid-1990s, a carrot-and-stick strategy that combined offering services with the full weight of law enforcement coming down on those persisting with gun activity. But Yablo said the strategy led to many of those involved in violence getting locked up for petty crimes, the effects of which are still being felt today by their children and others who are impacted by incarceration of a family member. 

The new gun violence reduction initiative was hatched following a several-day workshop in Boston this spring led by the Center for the Study and Practice of Violence Reduction at the University of Maryland. The center works with cities across the country to deploy evidence-based approaches to gun violence tailored to their unique set of circumstances. 

Thomas Abt, the center’s director and one of the country’s leading experts on crime and violence prevention, said what’s notable is that Boston is working to develop new approaches to gun violence even as it remains one of the safer big cities in the country. Baltimore, with a population only slightly smaller than Boston, saw 333 homicides last year, nearly 10 times the  Boston toll. 

“One of the things I admire about Boston is that folks are impatient, they’re not resting on their laurels,” said Abt. He said the hard work of the new initiative now lies ahead. “But I think the plan is on track,” Abt said of Boston’s blueprint. 

MICHAEL JONAS

FROM COMMONWEALTH

Back on track: The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration walked back its firm opposition to the Massachusetts right to repair law, saying it now believes the law can work with a few tweaks. Previously, the agency had told auto manufacturers to not comply with the Massachusetts law because its data access requirements could allow a “malicious actor” to remotely control vehicles.

– The law, approved by 75 percent of voters in 2020, is designed to give independent mechanics the same access to vehicle data that dealers have. Auto manufacturers sued to block enforcement of the law after it passed, and that case is still pending.  But it appears state and federal regulators now have a path forward. Read more.

OPINION

Transmission plan: Jeremy McDiarmid and Kat Burnham of the industry association Advanced Energy United put forward three steps to get New England united behind a plan to get the region’s “outdated” transmission infrastructure in shape. Read more.

FROM AROUND THE WEB

BEACON HILL

Gov. Maura Healey and Senate President Karen Spilka said they expect Beacon Hill leaders to reach agreement on a tax cut package by the end of the year. (Boston Herald) 

Rent control supporters are divided over whether to pursue their goal via a 2024 statewide ballot question or by trying to advance it through legislation on Beacon Hill. (Boston Globe)

The Healey administration and educators celebrated tuition equity – allowing students regardless of immigration status to access in-state tuition rates and state financial aid – being included in this year’s budget blueprint. (MassLive)

MUNICIPAL MATTERS  

The North Adams City Council approves a tax break for Tourists, the hotel company that is aggressively redeveloping property in the community. (Berkshire Eagle)

Gardner city officials are still studying a proposal to bring a thoroughbred horse racing facility to the city. (Worcester Telegram)

The town of Wayland is trying out a pilot program for a four-day work week in its municipal offices. (MetroWest Daily News)

HEALTH/HEALTH CARE

Point32Health, the state’s second largest health insurer, was pounded with a $103 million operating loss in the first six months of the year, a hit that the company largely attributed to a massive cyberattack that disrupted its operations. (Boston Globe)

Black and Hispanic residents use hospital services at higher rates than other groups, a pattern that could suggest they have lower access to outpatient primary care. (Boston Globe)

ELECTIONS

The ballot is set for the lone Westfield preliminary municipal election – for three school committee seats – in September. (MassLive)

BUSINESS/ECONOMY

The Native Land Conservancy has purchased the Aquinnah Shop Restaurant on Martha’s Vineyard, with plans to return the land in perpetuity to the Aquinnah Wampanoag. (Cape Cod Times)

EDUCATION

A group of retired Boston school administrators is calling on Superintendent Mary Skipper to release results of an investigation looking at whether administrators of color in the system have been targeted for disciplinary action and termination. (Boston Globe) 

After the Worcester Diocese announced new rules related to LGBTQ+ students, including prohibiting same-sex relationships or acting inconsistently with birth-assigned sex, the queer community is pushing back. (Worcester Telegram)

ENERGY/ENVIRONMENT

The Interior Department approves Revolution Wind, the fourth commercial-scale offshore wind farm to be greenlighted by the agency. Revolution Wind will generate energy for Rhode Island and Connecticut. The other three approved offshore wind farms are Vineyard Wind (Massachusetts), South Fork Wind (New York), and Ocean Wind 1 (New Jersey). (Associated Press)

The storm damage estimate from heavy rains rises to $30 million in North Andover. (Eagle-Tribune)

CRIMINAL JUSTICE/COURTS

The Massachusetts Police Officer Standards and Training Commission releases a database of police disciplinary actions across the state. The most disciplinary actions occurred within the largest police forces – the State Police and the departments in Boston and Springfield – but 40 percent of departments across the state reported no disciplinary actions. (Eagle-Tribune)

A survey of Greater Springfield residents with criminal records found that nearly half are still jobless a year after leaving prison. (MassLive)