Description: Meg Vaillancourt interviews South Boston high school sophomore boys about their view of confessed teenage murderer William Flynn in the Pamela Smart trial. Interview with Edward Loughran, Commissioner of the Department of Youth Services, about regulations surrounding juvenile offenders charged with capital crimes in Massachusetts.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 03/18/1991
Description: Rebecca Rollins reports that the murder rate in the city is rising. She notes that an overwhelming number of teenagers are involved in these homicides. Rollins interviews teenagers Grantley Payne, Michael Duval, and Pinto Triplett about why teenagers carry guns. Payne says that guns provide protection and grant status to teenagers. Payne and another teenager play basketball on an outdoor court. Rollins interviews Franklin Tucker (counselor) about teenagers and guns. Tucker talks about how teenagers obtain firearms. Tucker talks about the lack of programs aimed at preventing violence. He adds that many teenagers involved in violence come from disadvantaged backgrounds. Rollins' report is accompanied by footage of an African American teenager being treated by paramedics. This tape includes additional footage of Payne and another teenager playing basketball on an outdoor court.
1:00:01: Visual: Footage of a body on a stretcher being wheeled by medics to an ambulance; of an African American police officer speaking to an African American male suspect. Shots of Grantley Payne (age 18) and another teenager playing basketball on an outdoor court. Rebecca Rollins reports that the death toll in the city is rising at record pace; that the number of homicides may total 150 by the end of the year. Rollins notes that an overwhelming number of teenagers are involved in the homicides as victims or suspects. V: Shot of medics lifting the body of an African American teenager onto a stretcher. Shots of guns and weapons laid out on a table. Footage of Payne being interviewed. Payne says that guns provide protection and grant status to teenagers. Footage of Franklin Tucker (Barron) being interviewed by Rollins. Tucker says that teenagers are importing their own guns; that teenagers are ordering them by mail from states with lenient gun laws. Barron says that guns are being brought in by bus and car. Tucker says that teenagers are carrying new guns and serious firearms. Rollins reports that Tucker is an expert on the subject of kids, guns, and schools; that Tucker directs counseling services for kids caught with weapons on or near school property. V: Footage of Tucker being interviewed by Rollins. Tucker says that many teenagers carry guns for protection. Footage of Michael Duval (age 16) being interviewed by Rollins. Duval says that fighting and violence have progressed from hands to knives to guns. Duval says that a lot of movies have violence. Duval mentions the 1988 film Colors. Rollins asks why kids carry guns. Pinto Triplett (age 18) says that it is difficult to be a teenager in the projects; that teenagers who carry guns live in rough neighborhoods. Triplett says that many of these teenagers do not come from good backgrounds; that many teenagers cannot get jobs. Triplett says that some of these teenagers are the victims of racial discrimination. Footage of Tucker being interviewed by Rollins. Tucker says that there are no programs focusing on prevention; that society is trying to put these kids in jail. Tucker says that prisons are already overcrowded. Rollins stands in front of a basketball court. A group of teenagers play basketball on the court. Rollins says that the Boston Police Department and City Hall will officials will meet to discuss the problem of guns and violence.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 12/19/1990
Description: David Boeri reports that Mayor Ray Flynn is considering a curfew for teenagers in the city of Boston, in the wake of the murder of Kimberly Ray Harbor on Franklin Field. Review of the details of Harbor's murder and scenes of the murder suspects entering a courtroom. Boeri notes that the curfew would prohibit teenagers from being on the streets after 11:00 pm on weeknights and after 12:00 am on weekends. Interview with a group of pre-adolescent African American boys about the curfew. The boys are playing basketball on an outdoor court. They discuss gang activity and violence in their neighborhood, and say that the curfew is a good idea because it will protect people from violence on the streets. Boeri notes that many teenagers declined to be interviewed for the report.
1:00:11: Visual: Shots of a color photo of Kimberly Ray Harbor (murder victim); of a group of police and city officials gathered on Franklin Field. Shot of a Boston Herald newspaper with a headline reading, "Eight teens charged in brutal 'wilding' murder." David Boeri reports that Kimberly Ray Harbor was murdered on Franklin Field in Dorchester on the evening of October 31, 1990. Boeri notes that Harbor was robbed, raped, cut, and stabbed over 100 times. Boeri reports that the suspects are teenagers and gang members; that five of them are under the age of sixteen. V: Shot of three teenagers entering a courtroom. Shot of a group of teenagers playing street hockey outside of a housing development. Boeri reports that Ray Flynn (Mayor of Boston) is considering a curfew for teenagers in Boston. Boeri reports that the curfew would prohibit teenagers from being on the streets after 11:00 pm on weeknights and after 12:00 am on weekends. V: Shots of a group of African American kids playing basketball on an outdoor court near the Franklin Field Housing Project. Boeri notes that many teenagers declined to be interviewed for this report. V: Footage of Boeri interviewing a group of pre-adolescent African American kids. Boeri asks them about the problems in their neighborhood. The kids answer as a group. They talk about fights between gangs, vandalism, and violence. Boeri reports that the kids are afraid of gang members; that the kids go home early each night. V: Footage of Boeri interviewing the kids. Boeri asks how many teenagers in the neighborhood are gang members. The kids answer as a group. The kids says that most of the teenagers belong to gangs. Boeri reports that the kids told him that teenagers are asked to join gangs at age sixteen; that gangs sometimes recruit teenagers under the age of sixteen. Boeri reports that the kids he spoke to were around the age of thirteen. Boeri notes that the group of kids liked the idea of a curfew. V: Footage of Boeri talking to the kids. One of the boys says that a curfew is a good idea. Boeri asks if people get into trouble if the stay out too late. The boy says yes. Another boy says that gang members will shoot you for no reason if you walk by them at night. The boy says that the gang members will think that you belong to another gang. Boeri asks them if they will obey the curfew in three or four years. One of the boys says yes. Another boy says that he will be out playing basketball; that he and his friends will mind their own business. Shots of the boys playing basketball. Boeri notes that it is a short distance from the basketball court to the street corner; that it is a short distance from safety to trouble. Boeri reports that proponents of the curfew are trying to protect younger children from the violence of the streets.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 11/21/1990
Description: Mayor Kevin White, with Speaker Tip O'Neill and Lt. Governor Thomas O'Neill, announces federal discretionary grant for The Boston Plan Project Yes to be used for urban renewal and youth employment. Approximately 10,000 jobs have been created for young adults ages 16-19 living in an entitlement area who are enrolled in school. Jobs are part-time during the school year and full-time during the summer. Jobs are available in both the public and private sectors.
Collection: Ten O'Clock News
Date Created: 01/12/1978