The police have been notified many times and they claim there is nothing they can do

I live on this street and see all sorts of cars and characters going through the park. There are many families in thus neighborhood with small children. Their safety is paramount. If the city was truly dedicated to building a family friendly community, it will clean and secure this park.

JD, youre right about the cars and characters - large spike lately. I dont take kids to this park anymore. my wife said she's seen police around a lot more though

Acknowledged

We will increase patrols in the area with special attention to this issue. But please do call 617-387-1212 when you see this happening!

We do call sometimes several times a week and its the same thing every time, we call when they are smoking and by the time the cruiser gets here they are done smoking or they see the marked car and stop. The officers say we cant do anything because we didn't see it. I spacifically asked when i called to look at the camera first to see them and im told it doesn't work like that. The smart thing is to have a couple of plain clothes officers come by.

We will forward to the Drug Unit but keep calling and we will keep coming in the meantime.

Can you send a unit by nightly to be sure the playground is closed last night they were playing basketball at 2am

I will forward your request to the patrol commander. I'm sure he will be able to do so.

Thank you EPD for acting and fellow citizens for speaking out in defense of your neighbors.

The Patrol Commander has a Directed Patrol in place for curfew and the Youth Services Unit will also be coming by regularly to address the pot smokers. They are in plainclothes.

Thanks for fixing this issue!

I would like this issue to stay open till things change for REAL. I also think that people in the neighborhood have to start speaking up about the things we don't like. Our kids deserve to live in clean and safe city. I don't want them to think that smoking all kinds of things and selling drugs in a playground is normal.

You are welcome to keep this open but remember the best option is always to call 617-387-1212 when you need a police response or call 911 in an emergency.

Unfortunately when i have called the police department, every time i am tolled that they can not do nothing about it.

Addressed

This should stay open until it is actually addressed, Nothing has been done we just stopped calling because the dispatchers will tell us they are too busy, or the officers tell us there is nothing they can do about it. I even had one undercover officer in a ford explorer in a red sox jersey tell me that I SHOULD HAVE THOUGHT ABOUT THIS BEFORE I BOUGHT A HOUSE NEXT TO A PLAYGROUND... Really

In light of the decriminalization of marijuana it is difficult for police to keep city parks free of pot smokers without neighborhood help. Neighbors need to keep on calling (617-387-1212) when they observe anyone smoking in the parks. If the Dispatcher is less than helpful then you should call the Officer-in-Charge at 617-389-2120 and let him know about the pot smoking and the dispatchers response.

You should also know that if the kids are caught with less than an ounce there is little we can do…often just confiscate and destroy the marijuana. There is no real consequence for this violation. You should also know that in Everett we have a City Ordinance that allows Police Officers to fine anyone “Using or consuming” marijuana in a public place with a consequence of a $300. fine and they could be subject to arrest. But again they need to be seen by the Officer using or consuming and with uniformed Officers approaching it is often tossed aside and no one is observed…again no consequence.

As for plainclothes or Drug Unit officers sitting on a playground to catch pot smokers in the act? …with the scourge of heroin and the deaths attributed to it in our community versus the low or no consequence pot smoker….we have to put our limited resources to where they can have the best effect on our community.

So while we do want to address this issue in a meaningful way the reality is that decriminalization has made pot smoking a lower priority in comparison to heroin and opiod use.

So what to do?…keep calling, Be our eyes and ears and let us know what is going on. We will keep responding and do our best.