Staff Report
The Revere, Chelsea, and Winthrop police departments all recently received state grants that will help those communities support traffic safety initiatives and help combat illegal activity.
The awarding of the grants comes as Governor Maura Healey and Massachusetts State Police Colonel announced that statewide operations to prevent illegal street takeovers are having their intended impact.
On Saturday, Oct. 11, the State Police organized an operation to conduct strategic enforcement across Eastern and Southeastern Massachusetts. Troopers working in teams across the region achieved significant results with the support of intelligence and the Air Wing, including: 232 civil citations, 74 warnings, 20 criminal summons, 7 arrests, 15 tows, 2 seizures under the Controlled Substances Act, 1 stolen car recovery, according to the governor’s office. Most importantly, there were no street takeovers in Massachusetts over that weekend.
Additionally, the Healey-Driscoll Administration awarded $14 million in safety grants to cities and towns to support traffic enforcement and stop illegal activity. Recipients of this funding include more than 200 local police departments and 10 state agencies.
Revere received $48,738, Chelsea received $57,320, and Winthrop received $31,108. In addition, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s office received just over $100,000.
“These illegal street takeovers cause public disorder, damage property, and pose a significant threat to the safety of both area residents and police officers,” said Healey. “That’s why I declared a zero-tolerance policy and directed State Police to dedicate any necessary resources to support local police with deterring and responding to them. Thanks to the strong collaboration between state and local law enforcement, we saw none of the street takeovers like the ones that have been disrupting communities in recent weeks.
“We’re going to continue to do everything we can to prevent this illegal activity and protect public safety, including by delivering funding directly to local police to enhance roadway safety,” Healey continued. “I’m grateful for the leadership of Colonel Noble and the brave men and women in law enforcement for everything they are doing to keep our communities safe.”
Interim Public Safety and Security Secretary Susan W. Terrey said the targeted grant funding strengthens that work in hundreds of communities statewide and is essential to advancing the training, technology and outreach that deliver real results.
“Coordinated street takeovers like we’ve recently seen require coordinated law enforcement responses because public safety across jurisdictions comes under direct threat,” said Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden. “We’re glad to work together to hold all offenders accountable.”
State Police Colonel Geoffrey Noble said the Massachusetts State Police remain committed to addressing street takeovers with sustained community engagement, visible deterrents, and lawful enforcement focused on organizers.
“While we never underestimate the enormous complexity of these challenges, we remain confident in our ability as state and local partners to develop solutions guided by the vision of the Healey-Driscoll Administration,” Noble said. “The alignment between law enforcement and our community service partners is unmistakable, and it gives me great confidence in our ability to build safer communities.”
The State Police’s coordinated field, investigative and homeland security resources use intelligence from the Commonwealth Fusion Center. The team identified potential hotspots, located potential meet ups in real time, and applied targeted enforcement through deployed saturation patrols to deter and disrupt illegal street activity.
