For years, drug use, robberies and prostitution have plagued the Back Central neighborhood of Lowell, Massachusetts. Now, residents are pleading for help from city officials.
The city is trying to combat the problem with a new police precinct on the first floor of a Lowell Housing Authority property.
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The South Common Village on Gorham Street is one of the most impacted areas. Its coordinator, Naida Gonzalez, says an average of more than 80 needles are found on the property each week.
"We find a lot of drug paraphernalia," Gonzalez said. "Needles are a big thing. A lot of pipes, different things like that. Even weapons. We've found plenty of that."
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She says her residents are on edge with the constant criminal activity at the South Common, and that who don't live there are the ones disturbing the peace.
"A person hit someone else over the head with some type of metal object, and he was, like, in critical condition and had to be evacuated," said Gonzalez.
For years, the Back Central neighborhood has dealt with crime problems. Lowell Police Captain Marisol Nobrega says authorities are trying to change that.
"We actually formed a partnership with the Lowell Housing and the Lowell Police," Nobrega said. "The goal was to bring a precinct on the premises of this particular area so the residents can feel safer."
The precinct is on the first floor of the South Common Village Apartments. Georvellisse Rodriguez is one of the patrol officers on duty at this new office.
"There is normally an officer in the general area," Rodriguez said. "They can flag us down. Where beforehand, when we didn't have the precinct, it would just be one of those things where, again, if you saw an officer kind of patrolling or driving around, then you could flag them."
Lowell is one of the most diverse communities in the state, with more than 40% of its residents coming from Hispanic, Black or Asian households. Rodriguez says this precinct will have that representation and hopes this will also help with the public safety issue at hand.
"We just start to connect with not only the community, but this particular area, as well," Rodriguez said of the ability to communicate with people in Spanish.
City Councilor Corey Robinson tells us this problem is one that requires help from city and state officials.
"We put a motion in requesting a summit to bring all stakeholders in the surrounding areas, like the Merrimack Valley, as well as state and federal partners, to come in, because no community can afford to fund their way out of this challenge," Robinson said.
He says the summit will be held sometime in August.
Nobrega says she had a meeting with business owners Monday morning to get the ball rolling on how to help the community.
