by Eric Zuerndorfer
CHINATOWN – Gilbert Ho walks up and down Kneeland Street on the lookout for criminal activity. In the distance, Ho’s partners in blue keep a similar watch on other streets. Some of them ride bikes, some walk. Ho sees an older Chinese man drinking a bottle of alcohol in a paper bag. The man sees Ho coming, throws the bottle in the trash, and scurries along.
Where drunks, drug dealers and prostitutes once occupied the streets of Chinatown, the bright blue vests of the Chinatown Crime Watch now shoo them away or call police.
“[The criminals] know what the blue vest means, and, for the most part, they respect it,” said Ho, one of the founders of the Chinatown Crime Watch unit. “They understand that we’re the eyes and ears of police officials.”
Since its inception in May 2005, the Chinatown Crime Watch unit has made its presence felt. Crime decreased nearly 10 percent each year since 2006 for District A1, which includes Chinatown. The Chinatown Crime Watch unit has helped that, said Joseph Porcelli, community service officer of the Neighborhood Crime Watch Unit of the Boston Police Department.
Ho formed the Chinatown Crime Watch with his wife, Debbie, and Michael Wang. Aware of the high crime rates in the neighborhood, they wanted to put a stop to it.
Every day from 4:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m., about a dozen volunteers patrol the streets of Chinatown to inform police of suspicious activity. They are unarmed, wearing only blue “Chinatown Crime Watch” vests. They carry walkie-talkies to communicate with the police.
“Our goal is to reduce local crime and increase the residents’ sense of safety,” Wang said.
The Chinatown Crime Watch now has a membership of more than 60 volunteers who take turns watching the streets, no matter the occasion or the weather.
“We’re committed every day, no matter what, to keeping our neighborhood as safe as can be,” Ho said.
The City council has taken notice. Councilor Michael Flaherty led a hearing to recommend the Chinatown Crime Watch force as a model for other neighborhoods. Councilor Sam Yoon also supported the model implemented by Chinatown.
“Other people have the power to clean up their neighborhoods if they just take the initiative,” said Denny Ching, neighborhood coordinator of Chinatown.
Some question whether the Chinatown model would work elsewhere.
“Most neighborhoods are different than Chinatown,” Porcelli said. “You have to tailor the solution to the neighborhood and to its problem.”