Friends of Rogers Park Awarded Crime-Fighting Honor

At the National Night Out celebration at the Franklin Park Zoo last Tuesday night, the Boston Police handed out a series of citizen crime-related awards. Brighton's park advocacy group, the Friends of Rogers Park, was awarded one of the Top Ten Neighborhood Crime Watch groups of 2007.

The group was cited for working "with Boston Police District 14 and other City agencies to alleviate public drinking, vandalism, drug activity and traffic problems which were plaguing the area." Additional accomplishments include opening a dialogue between dog owners and other park users, and initiating the new master planning process for the park.

The Friends of Rogers Park is a nascent group -- formed only last year -- so this award will hopefully offer encouragement and impetus for a more expanded presence in the years to come. It is not officially a crime watch group (apparently there are only two currently-active crime watches in A-B, one of which is at Ringer Park), but the recognition highlights the overlapping activities of park advocacy groups and crime watches in urban settings.

Photo below with Commissioner Ed Davis, Mayor Menino, yours truly with 4-year-old, and Sgt. Bill Fogerty of D-14. The wildebeests (fenced area behind) were nowhere to be found with the large police presence and estimated 9,000 attendees at the zoo.



NOTE (8/15/07): A-B TAB posted a story on it.