By Suzanne Smalley, Globe Staff | April 11, 2007

One teenager described seeing a witness pistol-whipped for reporting a rape to police. “His eyes were completely red; you couldn’t see any white,” the unidentified youth said in an interview with researchers for a study on witness intimidation released yesterday. “They threatened to kill him and his family.”

Another said: “I’d get in trouble if I reported a violent crime. Gangs would be mad at me.”

A third teenager recalled deciding not to talk to police after witnessing a shootout.

“If I told them, the drug dealers would come back to me and make more trouble,” the teenager said. “I told my mom, and she was scared. She went back to the drug dealers and told them that I didn’t say nothing.”

Teens interviewed at Boys and Girls Clubs across Massachusetts told researchers they are afraid to cooperate with police against gang members, citing widespread violence and the power that gang members have in their neighborhoods.

The interviews were conducted for the study “Snitches Get Stitches: Youth, Gangs, and Witness Intimidation in Massachusetts,” sponsored by the state Executive Office of Public Safety and the National Center for Victims of Crime, a nonprofit advocacy group based in Washington, D.C.

Twenty-five percent of survey participants said that none of their neighbors would report a gang-related crime, with 64 percent saying that people don’t report such crimes because they are afraid of being beaten up or killed.

“Witness intimidation remains a significant problem that seriously undermines the effectiveness of the criminal justice system,” the report says.

Mary Lou Leary, a former Middlesex prosecutor and executive director of the National Center for Victims of Crime, said her organization chose to profile Massachusetts because the state made significant inroads against gun violence and witness intimidation in the 1990s and is experiencing a resurgence of both problems now.

Researchers suggested that officials provide anonymity to witnesses whenever possible, reach out to parents, and keep in touch with witnesses throughout the legal process.

Leary said legislation passed last year to establish a state witness protection program puts Massachusetts far ahead of much of the country when it comes to protecting witnesses at the local level.

Despite the state’s leadership on public safety issues, Leary said she was startled by the high percentage of young people at the Boys and Girls Clubs who had experienced gun violence. Seven percent reported being the victim of a shooting, 20 percent reported witnessing a shooting, and 18 percent reported a family member or friend being shot at.

“When you live in those high-crime communities, even if you are not involved in gang activity, you’re exposed to it all the time,” Leary said.

Youths participating in the study agreed, telling researchers they resent the gangs’ power.

“You can’t walk through a street without looking back,” one said. “They just think everything is theirs. They want to be the president of the block.”

Another youth said gang members sometimes say they are protecting the neighborhood. “But they’re not keeping us safe, because a bullet [doesn’t] have a name on it; it can hit anybody,” the youth said.

Researchers interviewed 39 young people ranging from 13 to 21 at seven participating Boys and Girls Clubs across the state, from Roxbury to Springfield, and collected anonymous surveys from 641 young people, most between 12 and 18, who frequent the Boys and Girls Clubs.

While 38 percent reported hearing of a threat against a schoolmate related to reporting gang crimes, only 12 percent of youths who had personally reported a crime said they had been threatened.

And young people said schools offer no relief from their fear.

Many gang members attended his school, attracting rival gangs to campus, one youth said. “We’d have lock-downs; we’d have police, metal detectors. People came from other schools to fight people at my school. It felt like a prison.”

Another said: “The kids are out of control. The students don’t only fight students, they fight teachers, too.”

Boston Police Commissioner Edward F. Davis downplayed some of the report’s findings in an interview yesterday, saying that witness intimidation is more perception than reality. “The fear is much more widespread than the actual incidents,” he said.

Community leaders disagreed. “We find it very difficult to get young people to testify, even when they’re the victims of the crime, not just witnesses,” said Emmett Folgert, director of the Dorchester Youth Collaborative. “If they’re a victim of a gang crime, they usually are directly intimidated.”

District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said 90 percent of the gun and gang cases his office handles feature some form of witness intimidation.

“We do have many potential witnesses or witnesses who do come forward who have been overtly threatened or have been actually assaulted,” Conley said.

At least 42 families or individuals statewide have been relocated under the witness protection program, and about 35 of those lived in Suffolk County, according to Conley’s office.

Conley said many youths complain about overly aggressive police officers, which he said intensifies youths’ reluctance to cooperate with law enforcement.

Many youths interviewed for the study said they have tense relations with police. Some said they rarely see police in their neighborhood and others said they only see them driving by in cruisers.

“They are jerks,” one youth said. “They abuse their authority . . . giving people dirty looks, going about everything the wrong way.”

Davis said that he expects officers to treat everyone well and that most officers are friendly and respectful.

Suzanne Smalley can be reached at ssmalley@globe.com.

A Conversation With the Ombudsperson

VOX: What is an ombudsperson and what do you hope you can accomplish in this role?
MC: Ombuds Offices give people a chance to explore a wide range of problems by talking them through confidentially with someone who’s neutral and independent. My role as Dartmouth’s ombudsperson is to be a resource where non-faculty staff members can work towards resolving conflicts in an environment of civility and mutual respect. The word “ombudsman” derives from an 18th-century Swedish term describing a government officer whose role is to hear citizens’ complaints in a neutral and independent setting, but the concept of ombudspersons dates back to ancient China.

VOX: How do you maintain your independence from the administration? You report to the President and need to be aware of College policies. How do you create and maintain boundaries?
MC: I report to the President on trends, not specifics and have confidence that he and others will respect the independence of the Ombuds Office. Independence doesn’t mean an ombudsperson is a free agent, though. There are many restrictions on the activities I can engage in. For example, the ombudsperson doesn’t write policies, advocate for or organize against them. What I can do is help individuals and, on the institutional level, point out and question the repercussions of events that employees bring to my attention, without breaching their confidentiality.

VOX: Where is the Ombuds Office?
MC: My office is in room 206 in the Church of Christ at Dartmouth on College Street—more commonly known as the White Church. I know that some employees have qualms about coming to the office because of their religious affiliations and feelings. I want everyone to know that I’ll accommodate them by meeting elsewhere if need be. At the same time, I think this location bolsters my office’s independence because it’s not in an administrative building, yet is centrally located so that most hourly staff can pop in during lunch hour if that’s what’s most helpful to them. I also know that the Church of Christ is very inclusive and respectful of the boundaries between the church and the rental space.

VOX: Why does Dartmouth need an ombudsperson?
MC: The creation of the Ombuds Office was recommended by the Administrative Working Group on Hiring and Retention. That group was one of three committees established by President Wright to examine how Dartmouth could improve internal communication, recruit and retain talented administrators, and align the budgeting cycles more closely with the College’s strategic planning process. According to the hiring and retention group’s report, the Ombuds Office would “serve both managers and other staff members. It would operate outside the formal grievance procedures, in some instances simply offering advice and information, in others facilitating a resolution of the matter at hand and offering mediation when necessary.”

VOX: How does it feel to be the person that people come to with all of their problems?
MC: I personally find it gratifying to help people solve their own problems when it’s possible for them to do so. I’m also fascinated by how people change their definitions of issues and arrive at creative solutions themselves through the process of being listened to and questioned in a nonjudgmental way.

VOX: Explain how the Ombuds Office at Dartmouth maintains the confidentiality of those seeking consultation.
MC: First of all, not everyone wants confidentiality, but one of the primary purposes of the office is to give people a place to go where they are not putting the College on notice of an issue. I have no obligation to report what I hear unless there is an imminent physical threat, evidence of a discrimination issue, or a subpoena, which would be highly unusual. I keep notes only as long as I am working with someone. When their issue is resolved or referred elsewhere or enters a grievance process, I will shred notes.

Ombuds officers do not participate as witnesses or adjudicators in campus grievance procedures precisely because people need to feel free to explore their intentions, strategies, and fears separately from processes that involve creating records, judging evidence, and potentially recommending discipline.

VOX: If your consultations are confidential, then how do you account for the office’s activity in any given period of time? Don’t you have to submit reports?
MC: Quite rightly, the College wants to assess the effectiveness and contribution of the office. I will report on numbers and types of concerns and trends, while making sure that identities are not revealed.

VOX: Do you have a list of questions that employees can ask themselves that could guide them in knowing whether a consultation with you would be helpful?
MC: I’m just now working on materials and will be posting helpful advice on the Ombuds Office Web site, once it is launched. The launch will be announced online and in Vox of Dartmouth.

VOX: What special qualities do you bring to this role? What do you want people to know about you personally that might help them as they consider whether or not to seek your advice?
MC: I’ve served as Dartmouth’s director of equal opportunity and affirmative action, and as associate dean of arts and sciences and senior advisor to the provost at Brandeis University, where I focused on academic personnel. I’ve resolved disputes and offered training on over 15 campuses. This extensive experience combined with my genuine personal interest in helping people, makes me, I hope, a real resource for Dartmouth managers and staff. I think I also apply my skills as a teacher of writing when I help people clarify their thinking, understand policies, and cultivate strategies that are effective in professional environments.

VOX: In any workplace, there are bound to be disputes and character conflicts. Sometimes people just don’t get along. Is it the role of Dartmouth’s Ombuds Office to deal with those situations?
MC: My role is to deal with situations people bring to me by helping them resolve them or referring them elsewhere. Sometimes resolution is about trying to change a relationship; sometimes it’s about accepting differences by coming to understand them better and gaining distance from conflicts that are unlikely to disappear. I certainly don’t want to give people unrealistic expectations of utopian conviviality in the workplace. At the same time, I know it often helps to talk things through in a neutral and confidential environment.

VOX: How should employees view the ombudsperson? Are you the person of last resort or should they touch base with you as soon as there are questions or concerns?
MC: Most employee issues are addressed with supervisors and in the Office of Human Resources. But when people would rather seek advice and informal coaching elsewhere, they can come to me with an issue, preferably before it escalates. I’m a first and last resort, and an option at any point in someone’s efforts to break through bureaucratic entanglements, sort through ethical questions about office practices, communicate with a co-worker or supervisor, or improve any other aspect of their working lives at Dartmouth.

VOX: Have you ever been in a situation where you’ve consulted with an ombudsperson or someone in a similar role? Was it helpful?
MC: I’ve been in situations where I would have benefited from such a confidential, neutral conversation but where the option wasn’t available. I’m glad it exists at Dartmouth now. It’s a great privilege to be providing this service to my fellow employees.

By LAUREL STAVIS

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