We are in District 4
The neighborhood is protected by the District 4 station over on Harrison Ave. Our Commander is Captain Shawn Burns. Community Officer We encourage all residents who need help to contact Sgt. Joseph Narduzzo. He is the Community officer for Area D . Tel (617) 343-4505 [email protected] To keep up with all the latest news follow the police on their Newsletter - click on logo below. 
District 4 Headquarters
650 Harrison Avenue Boston, MA 02116 TEL (617) 343-4250 Front Desk (617) 343-4250
Drug Control Unit (617) 343-4822 Auto Investigations (617) 343-4293 Property Clerk (617) 343-4250 Anti-Crime (617) 343-5375 Domestic Violence (617) 343-4811 Community Service (617) 343-4457 DISTRICT 4 COMPSTAT MEETING – MARCH 20, 2024
SBNA attended this meeting and once boston police posts the minutes we will link to them. Meanwhile, here are some take-aways from the meeting: Police Commissioner Cox spoke about the importance of community policing and engagement with the District 4 residents -police can only help with a problem if they know about it so please reach out to the department. He acknowledged that there are still problems in the Mass/Cass area, some that are beyond the remit of the police to fix, but the police will continue to work with the community towards a resolution. Community Service Office – Sgt. Joseph Narduzzo (former liaison officer, Sgt. Matthew Hogardt,has been promoted to Lt.) reiterated the role as a liaison between the police and the community . His goal is to hold community meetings to work with residents on day-to-day quality of life issues and take community information to District 4 personnel for action Sgt Narduzzo's 2023 highlights included youth/police basketball game and barbeque; delivering Thanksgiving dinner to needy families in the district; and the St. Stephen Youth Program coat drive Ryan Walsh – Analyst, BRIC (Boston Regional Intelligence Center) spoke and his role includes : -being the central point for collection of intelligence data, both criminal and terrorist - coordinates with Federal, State, private sector and local/regional agencies. BEST – Boston Emergency Service Team This is a collaborative effort with Boston Medical Center to deal with residents dealing with mental health and substance abuse issues. 311 vs. 911 Use 911 if the police need to be immediately involved, i.e., disrupted behavior; if you need EMS, use 311 for city issues that don’t involve the police, i.e., trash bins overflowing into the street. Need non-urgent Help?
We love this service from the city. Download the 311 app to your phone and life will get so much easier. You can go the the City of Boston for more details.
Needle request clean Up ?
Report a broken traffic Light? Get rid of a big item? Pay a parking ticket? 
You can also tweet@bos311 or download the app from the City of Boston website
|
Latest news ...Community-Led Public Safety Conversation & Survey
A Community-Led Conversation on Public Safety on Thursday, October 23 at 6:30 p.m. at Cathedral High School in the South End. This meeting will bring together residents and city leadership to discuss concerns, share updates, and explore collaborative solutions. Invited members of the CRT, NEST, BPD, the Mayor, and other city and state officials closely involved in this work. More details soon. Public Safety Survey Nearby residents are being asked to complete a brief public safety survey as soon as possible to help capture lived experiences and shape the conversation. It only takes ~2 minutes. Please share it with your neighbors! 
Update October 9th 2025
We walked with District 4 along the Southwest Corridor on October 9th! It was nice to put faces to the names of officers who police our district. The recurring message from them is to call 911 to report all incidents, no matter how small. They will handle the priority, and you need not worry about wasting their time. It is important to keep up-to-date records of incidents in neighborhoods. Melnea Cass & Mass Ave.
Update Friday Sept 5th 2025
What’s happening with the crisis spreading from Mass & Cass? The agonizing, appalling, and difficult situation known as “Mass & Cass” still plagues our city, and its tentacles spread throughout the South End and into our streets and alleys as well. Boston City Councilors faced a packed hotel room last night as local residents and businesses expressed their frustration, as drug use is spilling over into nearby neighborhoods, including ours. No easy answers, but here is a link to our State Representative, John Moran’s latest newsletter, and another link here to the Coordinated Response Team at the City of Boston. More reviews and testimonies below; Boston Globe article CBS local news Testimony from Albemarle Resident. We encourage all residents who need help to contact our community officer (for area D), Sgt. Joseph Narduzzo Tel (617) 343-450 Email - [email protected], and do feel free to keep us involved. Update January 2025
We say goodbye to Boston Police Captain Steven Sweeney from D-4. Captain Sweeney has taken the helm at the C-11 police district in Dorchester Captain Shawn Burns, who has been in charge at C-11 since 2022, has switched places with Captain Sweeney, taking over in District-4 Background on Mass/Cass Task Force
Mass Ave and Melnea Cass Blvd's intersection is often called "Mass/Cass." It is an area of Boston with a long history of serving the City's — and the region’s — most vulnerable populations.
The Mass/Cass area is experiencing an impact on public health, public safety, and quality of life. The Mass/Cass Strategic Plan was released in October 2019. The plan outlines the City of Boston’s strategy to address these issues. 
MASS/CASS TASK FORCE The task force advises the City of Boston on the Mass/Cass 2.0 plan. It is made up of:
November 9, 2020 Mass/Cass Task Force Meeting
A very informative community meeting was held recently. A zoom recording is available for this meeting - click here Car Talk....For some tips to help prevent car break-ins click here . Please do remember what may not seem valuable to you (those pennies in the cup holder)may be enough for someone to break into your car.... remove everything from sight!
Data Dashboard
Several residents have brought to our attention the intersection of West Newton and St. Botolph at the 7/11. Complaints include: trucks double-parking and blocking crosswalks, delivery trucks idling, trash on the sidewalks, patrons without masks and drug-related behavior.
We need your feedback about safety on our streets. Have you experienced challenges at this corner? We want to hear from you. Email us. Help us make our streets and sidewalks safer by sharing your thoughts. We are meeting with our elected officials on this important topic. Meeting with Transportation On Friday, December 18, 2020, Boston Transportation Chief, Chris Osgood, came out to listen to our residents' pleas for attention to the many safety issues we are faced with at several intersections in our neighborhood, including the West Newton/St. Botolph intersection, Garrison and St. Botolph intersection and the midway crosswalk at the Southwest Corridor. We'll have more details to share about this in the future, but we are encouraged by the beginning of a dialog to improve pedestrian safety. If you have experienced safety issues in this area, email us! Also, does anyone notice high speed traffic turning right from West Newton onto St. Botolph (heading towards Garrison)to avoid the signal at Huntington Ave? Email us! |
Who are you gonna call ...
We all feel conflicted about involving the police if we see a homeless person behaving strangely. But if you feel threatened or you feel the person needs medical help. please don't hesitate to call 911. If you spot anti-social behavior call the D-4 Police Community Liaison at 617 343 4250. We have assurances from our local police and city officials that, if they get a call about a person clearly in distress, they are not necessarily arresting them, but bringing them to get help from city services.
BPD Safe Exchange ZonesWant to sell or buy something online but wary of meeting a person on your own? A great solution developed by the police are BPD “Safe Exchange Zone” which are located at every Boston Police District Station across the city as well as BPD Headquarters. These areas are monitored via security video and available 24 hours a day. Additionally, these areas offer sufficient space to exercise social distancing during the transaction. The closest one for our neighborhood is a 12/15 min walk to 650 Harrison St.
Ensuring Personal Safety
It's tempting, to put those ear buds in and day dream aliens might abduct the annoying members of your household. BUT, please stay alert and aware of your surroundings. Police have alerted us that there is an up-tick of phones/bags being snatched as day dreamers stroll the corridor with both ear buds in. Try listening with one ear bud and stay safe!. Click here for more safety tips from Boston Police BBQ Safety Tips
Fire Safety prohibitions related to grills in the City of Boston.
Neither Liquid Propane tanks nor gas grills are allowed (no matter how stored) on rear decks, balconies, or roof decks. If you wish to have a gas grill on a rear deck or roofdeck, you will need to have a natural gas line installed by a licensed installer. Please note, gas grills using natural gas lines and propane tank gas grills are different critters. Converting a propane tank grill to a natural gas grill must be done by a professional or a new natural gas grill must be purchased. Charcoal or wood burning grills are similarly prohibited on decks or roofs. This includes small Hibachi grills that are sometimes seen used on rear decks or even fire escapes. The fire risk from wind or other factors cannot be underestimated. Electric grills ARE permitted on rear decks and roof-decks. Neighbors should familiarize themselves with the guidelines and rules found Here |
Stay safe and sound.....
|
Public Restrooms
We've been alerted of some very unpleasant anti-social behavior - using the corridor park as a public restroom. If you witness this, call the D4 Police Community Liaison at 617 343 4250. Feel free to yell at them that there are public restrooms nearby at; Southend Library 685 Tremont St Back Bay Station The Prudential Mall The city has a useful page on where to find public restrooms all over the city. For details Click here |
Check your key/lock Box!
Recently, an unknown person attempted to take a key from an exterior lock/key box. They ripped open the key box ( no key was there) and tore the light sensor off the wall. The neighbor did the right thing and notified police. |
