Boston Police Teen Academy Brings Kids, Officers Together
BOSTON (CBS) - It was a violent night in the city Wednesday, six people shot and three of them killed.
"Clearly we believe, gangs are involved as well as a targeted shooting," Police Commissioner William Evans told reporters Thursday.
The incidents were unrelated, but it adds up to frustration among city leaders.
"This is senseless acts of violence in our city. We are a better city than that," Mayor Marty Walsh said.
But Walsh and Evans are also quick to point out that there are still a lot of good kids in the city who are choosing the right path.
Some of them are part of the Boston Police Teen Academy and they know the gang-bangers get a lot of attention.
"They'll get their 15 minutes of fame while we get 15 seconds," academy graduate Shadihra Jefferson told WBZ-TV. "They don't ever notice that there's kids like us that try."
They spend the summer at the police academy, learning and forging relationships with police.
"I'm just here now. I'm here this year to show people that the police are not all bad," said graduate David Bello, Jr.
"95-percent of cops nationwide are really good people. 95-percent of teenagers are really good people. My job is to introduce the first 95-percent to the second 95-percent," said police academy instructor Darryl Owens.
The problem is guns are flooding the streets and drowning a lot of kids.
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Karen Twomey reports
