ill
Superstar
Most people in New England think Lawrence, MA is the heroin hub. Not far off from the truth. Lately been in the news with the Governors of ME and NH calling out Lawrence specifically. Now they're bringing in feds to sweep the city for guns. Murders been going up lately with the increased business.
'HEAT ON THE STREET': Federal agents, local police will unite in crime crackdown after suspected gang-related murders
LAWRENCE – Just hours after a Lawrence teen was shot to death this week, police Chief James Fitzpatrick sat down with a host of federal agents and asked for help.
The previously scheduled meeting, arranged in response to ongoing city violence, was held to "rekindle the relationships we have," Fitzpatrick explained.
Fitzpatrick hopes a unified force of federal drug and law enforcement agents, state and local police can place enough pressure on the criminal element to tamp down the violence that has plagued the city in recent months. There have been three suspected gang executions in Lawrence in the last six months. Fitzpatrick and his detectives worry about what the coming warmer weather may bring.
Wednesday morning, at Crescent and Forest streets, local and state police detectives were scouring the neighborhood, looking for evidence in what appears to be the gang-related murder of Juan Espinal, 18, a former student at both Methuen and Lawrence high schools.
As the detectives worked, friends and relatives of Espinal erected a makeshift memorial of pictures and candles on a stone wall at the corner.
Espinal was shot multiple times at close range with a .40-caliber handgun. It is the third execution-style murder in the city in six months, police said.
"Either guns or drugs or a combination of the two are believed to be the nexus to the homicides," Fitzpatrick said.
It's unclear at this point if the three murders since October are related. What is certain, however, is that authorities are running right at the problem.
Fitzpatrick is bringing together federal agents, state police, corrections officers and local police in an intense effort to get guns off the street and gather intelligence on drug dealers, users, gang members and guns.
Lawrence detectives worked with federal agents and state police in a heroin-related sting of similar magnitude this summer. More than 300 arrests were made, the vast majority of them being on drug-related charges.
Illegal drugs remain a priority. But with spring and summer approaching, police are also targeting weapons.
"We want to make it very uncomfortable for people to be walking around with weapons and carrying weapons by putting a lot of heat on the street," said police Capt. Roy Vasque, a 25-year officer and commander of Lawrence detectives.
"Definitely, this is going to be a concentrated effort to get ahead of the spring and summer months ... If we make them uncomfortable, we'll have an impact on gang violence," Vasque explained.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Drug Enforcement Agency are being pulled in, along with state troopers and a special investigator from the Essex County Sheriff's Department.
Fitzpatrick said the sheriff's investigator will be a conduit for criminal information running from the streets to Middleton Jail and vice versa.
A Lawrence detective will also be deputized as a ATF agent, Fitzpatrick said.
The expertise from the "combination of agencies" will then be deployed at a variety of "hot spots" in the city over the next several weeks, he said.
Fitzpatrick stressed he wants the areas made "inhospitable" to all criminals. Some feel if police "aren't out there and up in your face," they feel as though "the cops aren't going to bother me and they will just continue carrying on the street," he said.
He plans to be a focal point between all of the agencies, which have a tendency to work "in silos," he said, meaning they tend to operate independently.
"I need to bring these agencies together," he said.
Since mid-February, detectives in the department's Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit, along with federal agencies, have been investigating illegal purchases and resales of weapons in the city. A dozen firearms have already been seized as part of the ongoing probe, Vasque said.
Detectives investigating Espinal's murder did seize area surveillance video and found spent shell casings this week. But the .40 caliber handgun used in the fatal shooting has not been recovered.
On his Facebook page, Espinal made references to Crips gang members and relationships.
Drugs may have played a role in the two earlier, unsolved murders, police said.
On Oct. 16, a 34-year-old man was shot near 84 Haverhill St. and later died at a Boston hospital. He was identified at Jorge Luis Aristo Viscaino.
Then, last month on Feb. 16, a 46-year-old man was gunned down and killed at the intersection of Avon and Trinity streets. Juan Moreta Perello was identified as the victim.
Following Perello's killing, Mayor Daniel Rivera announced plans for a gun buyback program.
This week, after Espinal's killing, Rivera scrapped the buyback plan saying he would redirect the money to hire additional drug and gang workers in the city.
Lawrence already has three intervention workers through a state-funded Safe and Successful Youth Initiative grant.
He said he also wanted to start a program he is calling "hot spot block parties." The block parties would be modeled after National Night Out events, which are aimed at "taking back" neighborhoods.
In the hours after Espinal was killed, Rivera said he listened closely to law enforcement, the faith community and youth organizations about what could be done better to combat street violence.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
Trio of execution-style deaths
Oct. 16, 2016: Jorge Luis Aristo Viscaino, 34, is shot near 84 Haverhill St. and later dies at a Boston hospital.
Feb. 16: Juan Moreta Perello, 46, is shot to death at Avon and Trinity streets.
March 8: Juan Espinal, 18, shot and killed at Forest and Cresent streets.
'HEAT ON THE STREET': Federal agents, local police will unite in crime crackdown after suspected gang-related murders
LAWRENCE – Just hours after a Lawrence teen was shot to death this week, police Chief James Fitzpatrick sat down with a host of federal agents and asked for help.
The previously scheduled meeting, arranged in response to ongoing city violence, was held to "rekindle the relationships we have," Fitzpatrick explained.
Fitzpatrick hopes a unified force of federal drug and law enforcement agents, state and local police can place enough pressure on the criminal element to tamp down the violence that has plagued the city in recent months. There have been three suspected gang executions in Lawrence in the last six months. Fitzpatrick and his detectives worry about what the coming warmer weather may bring.
Wednesday morning, at Crescent and Forest streets, local and state police detectives were scouring the neighborhood, looking for evidence in what appears to be the gang-related murder of Juan Espinal, 18, a former student at both Methuen and Lawrence high schools.
As the detectives worked, friends and relatives of Espinal erected a makeshift memorial of pictures and candles on a stone wall at the corner.
Espinal was shot multiple times at close range with a .40-caliber handgun. It is the third execution-style murder in the city in six months, police said.
"Either guns or drugs or a combination of the two are believed to be the nexus to the homicides," Fitzpatrick said.
It's unclear at this point if the three murders since October are related. What is certain, however, is that authorities are running right at the problem.
Fitzpatrick is bringing together federal agents, state police, corrections officers and local police in an intense effort to get guns off the street and gather intelligence on drug dealers, users, gang members and guns.
Lawrence detectives worked with federal agents and state police in a heroin-related sting of similar magnitude this summer. More than 300 arrests were made, the vast majority of them being on drug-related charges.
Illegal drugs remain a priority. But with spring and summer approaching, police are also targeting weapons.
"We want to make it very uncomfortable for people to be walking around with weapons and carrying weapons by putting a lot of heat on the street," said police Capt. Roy Vasque, a 25-year officer and commander of Lawrence detectives.
"Definitely, this is going to be a concentrated effort to get ahead of the spring and summer months ... If we make them uncomfortable, we'll have an impact on gang violence," Vasque explained.
Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms and Drug Enforcement Agency are being pulled in, along with state troopers and a special investigator from the Essex County Sheriff's Department.
Fitzpatrick said the sheriff's investigator will be a conduit for criminal information running from the streets to Middleton Jail and vice versa.
A Lawrence detective will also be deputized as a ATF agent, Fitzpatrick said.
The expertise from the "combination of agencies" will then be deployed at a variety of "hot spots" in the city over the next several weeks, he said.
Fitzpatrick stressed he wants the areas made "inhospitable" to all criminals. Some feel if police "aren't out there and up in your face," they feel as though "the cops aren't going to bother me and they will just continue carrying on the street," he said.
He plans to be a focal point between all of the agencies, which have a tendency to work "in silos," he said, meaning they tend to operate independently.
"I need to bring these agencies together," he said.
Since mid-February, detectives in the department's Street Narcotics Enforcement Unit, along with federal agencies, have been investigating illegal purchases and resales of weapons in the city. A dozen firearms have already been seized as part of the ongoing probe, Vasque said.
Detectives investigating Espinal's murder did seize area surveillance video and found spent shell casings this week. But the .40 caliber handgun used in the fatal shooting has not been recovered.
On his Facebook page, Espinal made references to Crips gang members and relationships.
Drugs may have played a role in the two earlier, unsolved murders, police said.
On Oct. 16, a 34-year-old man was shot near 84 Haverhill St. and later died at a Boston hospital. He was identified at Jorge Luis Aristo Viscaino.
Then, last month on Feb. 16, a 46-year-old man was gunned down and killed at the intersection of Avon and Trinity streets. Juan Moreta Perello was identified as the victim.
Following Perello's killing, Mayor Daniel Rivera announced plans for a gun buyback program.
This week, after Espinal's killing, Rivera scrapped the buyback plan saying he would redirect the money to hire additional drug and gang workers in the city.
Lawrence already has three intervention workers through a state-funded Safe and Successful Youth Initiative grant.
He said he also wanted to start a program he is calling "hot spot block parties." The block parties would be modeled after National Night Out events, which are aimed at "taking back" neighborhoods.
In the hours after Espinal was killed, Rivera said he listened closely to law enforcement, the faith community and youth organizations about what could be done better to combat street violence.
Follow staff reporter Jill Harmacinski on Twitter @EagleTribJill.
Trio of execution-style deaths
Oct. 16, 2016: Jorge Luis Aristo Viscaino, 34, is shot near 84 Haverhill St. and later dies at a Boston hospital.
Feb. 16: Juan Moreta Perello, 46, is shot to death at Avon and Trinity streets.
March 8: Juan Espinal, 18, shot and killed at Forest and Cresent streets.
