Page 8 THE REVERE ADVOCATE – FRIDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2021 Suffolk DA Rachael Rollins excited for new role as U.S. Attorney for Massachusetts F ollowing a vote on December 8 by the U.S. Senate, Suff olk County District Attorney Rachael Rollins was confi rmed as the next U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts. “I’m deeply honored and humbled by the opportunity to serve my community, my Commonwealth and my country as the next United States Attorney for the District of Massachusetts,” Rollins said. “Every policy and initiative that I have put in place as Suff olk County District Attorney has been designed to improve the safety and wellbeing of the communities I serve, to improve the public’s trust in law enforcement and our courts and to improve the fairness and equity of the criminal legal system. I’m incredibly proud of the work every member of my offi ce has done to achieve these goals, and I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to lead an offi ce of such dedicated, compassionate and talented professionals. I look forward to bringing these data-driven, evidenced-based approaches and a heightened emphasis on culturally competent, trauma-informed victim services to the United States Attorney’s Offi ce for the District of Massachusetts.” During her three years as the chief law enforcement offi cial in Suff olk County, which includes the cities of Boston, Chelsea and Revere and the town of Winthrop, Rollins has valued her offi ce’s partnerships with law enforcement and the communities it serves to improve public safety and public health. These partnerships have been instrumental in her offi ce’s work improving public safety and the administration of justice in Suff olk County. Data from the Boston Police Department shows that as of December 5 the most serious categories of crime – referred to as Part 1 crime – have dropped. To date, incidents of Part 1 violent crime in 2021 are down by more than 20 percent from the fi ve-year average, including signifi cant reductions in homicides and shootings. In addition, Part 1 property crimes are down by 14 percent. These reductions occurred at a time when other major cities experienced increases in violence. Rollins has been able to focus her eff orts on targeting the most serious and violent crime because of her smart-on-crime policies. Upon taking office, Rollins introduced a policy of presumptively diverting or declining to prosecute certain categories of nonviolent, low-level misdemeanor off enses that are more indicative of mental illness, substance use disorder, food or housing insecurity, poverty or homelessness than of criminal intent. This presumption is rebuttable, and Suff olk prosecutors continue to move forward with prosecutions in approximately 25 percent of these cases. The eff ectiveness of this approach in reducing crime is supported by research published earlier this year by the National Bureau of Economic Research. An independent team of academic researchers reviewed more than 67,000 Suff olk County cases that were fi led over 17 years. Their fi ndings indicate that individuals who were not prosecuted for nonviolent misdemeanors were 58 percent less likely to be charged again in the next two years than those who were prosecuted for nonviolent, low-level crimes. The study suggests that aggressively prosecuting low-level crimes could actually lead to more crime, while policies of not pursuing an indictment can help reduce criminal involvement. By realigning her offi ce’s priorities, Rollins has reinvested her office’s limited resources to more eff ectively address serious and violent felony off enses that cause the greatest harm in the communities she serves. These eff orts include the creation of the Crime Strategies Bureau to use data-driven and innovative approaches to investigating and prosecuting off enses, including drug and human traffi cking and gang violence. Rollins also launched the Project for Unsolved Suff olk Homicides to use her office’s untapped resources to review unsolved homicide cases with the goal of identifying new investigative avenues that were unavailable at the time of the initial investigation. To date, Rollins’ staff have reviewed upwards of 200 homicide case fi les with fresh eyes. This eff ort has resulted in indictments in three homicides that occurred during the 1980s and 1990s. In addition to her increased investment in addressing serious and violent crime and improving community trust, Rollins has worked to improve the delivery of services to victims, survivors and communities impacted by crime. She hired the fi rst licensed independent clinical social worker to lead the Victim Witness Assistance Program in the offi ce’s history, increased the unit’s staffi ng by 25 percent and increased by 50 percent the number of victim witness advocates on her staff who speak at least one language in addition to English. RevereTV Spotlight T he City of Revere started celebrating December’s holidays during the fi rst week of the month. All RevereTV event coverage is now replaying on the Community Channel and can be watched at any time on YouTube. Holiday coverage includes a Menorah Lighting Ceremony, tree lighting events at City Hall and in Beachmont, the Priscilla Nickerson Memorial Santa Walk and the Annual Robert A. Marra Memorial Sounds of Christmas Concert at St. Anthony’s Church. RevereTV is keeping you in the holiday spirit by playing a past recording of the Sounds of Christmas Concert at noon every day this month. This is fi lling the time slot of the usual Senior Center Concert that plays after the Senior Health Series exercise videos on weekday mornings. All the concert recordings from years dating back to at least 2012 will be set up as a marathon event on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. Tune in to Comcast channels 8 or 1072 and RCN channels 3 and 614 to catch the marathon concert event. There should be a new “Cooking Made Simple” episode coming soon! Local professional chef Kelly Armetta is planning to come back to the RTV Kitchen Studio to show you how to make something to bring to your family gathering for the holidays. Keep an eye on the programming schedule over the next few weeks for the newest premiere. All new cooking shows premiere on the RevereTV Community Channel at 7 p.m. on the Wednesday after production. The show then enters the schedule rotation at various times over the following weeks. Cooking shows are sometimes easier to follow or at least prepare for if you watch them on YouTube at your convenience. Recipes are posted in the comments of each video and at the start of each episode on RevereTV’s page. The Revere City Council is soon entering its holiday break, but all meetings leading up to the break are still being streamed live on RTV Gov, Facebook and YouTube. The latest meetings include the Zoning Sub-Committee, Ways and Means Sub-Committee, Commission on Disabilities and the License Commission. There is a Zoning Board of Appeals Meeting next week. Check out each meeting’s agenda posted to the City of Revere’s website calendar at revere.org to fi nd out what to expect at each meeting. You can watch RTV Gov for all local government meetings on Comcast channel 9 and RCN channels 13 or 613.
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