Boston City Council committee hears testimony on Shannon community‑safety grant as nonprofits warn of cuts and police absence

Councilor Santana, chair of the Boston City Council Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, on Thursday presided over a virtual hearing on Docket 0970 to accept and expand Shannon Community Safety Initiative funds awarded by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security and administered in Boston by the Boston Police Department.

The hearing featured program staff and nonprofit recipients who said the grant supports prevention, intervention and reentry work across neighborhoods. “This funding isn’t just about agencies receiving money. It is a statement that our city [and] state are committed to ensuring law enforcement, community‑based organizations and community members — primarily youth — find ways to implement violence‑prevention efforts together,” Abigail Forester, CEO of the Center for Teen Empowerment, told the committee.

Mr. Bills, the project coordinator who oversees the Shannon initiative for the Boston Police Department, told councilors that “out of this year’s funding 1.73 million we will fund 17 different nonprofits,” and he listed awardees that include Boston Medical Center’s violence‑intervention program, the Boston Public Health Commission, the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute, Project Right, Youth Connect, The Record Company and others. Mr. Bills also said the program has supported more organizations in the past but was reduced this cycle because of state funding cuts.

Several councilors used the hearing to press two related concerns: they said higher‑ranking police officials and command staff were not present to answer questions about overall public‑safety strategy, and they sought more recent crime and staffing data. “We are seeing a significant rise in crime in Boston,” Councilor Flynn said, adding he wanted direct answers from the police commissioner about staffing and retention. Mr. Bills provided summary figures for 2021–2025, saying simple assault arrests increased 17%, robbery arrests increased 62% and aggravated assaults increased 2% over that period, and he said six‑month figures were not immediately available.

Nonprofit witnesses described how Shannon funds are used on the ground. Pablo Velez, director of development at The Record Company, said his TRC Academy provides free audio‑industry training and paid pathways that help keep young creatives engaged in the city’s economy. Kevin Barton, executive director of Youth Connect, said his group embeds licensed social workers in police stations and provides voluntary, long‑term mental‑health services to youth and families, services he said are possible only with grant support.

Speakers and councilors repeatedly raised the effects of reduced funding. Committee members noted the program once operated on larger state allocations — witnesses and councilors referenced prior cycles that were closer to $3 million — and that this year’s awards dropped the number of direct Shannon grantees from larger past rosters (one speaker cited ~28 recipients last year vs. 17 this year). Recipients described rotating funding cycles and local efforts to preserve programming despite the cuts.

Committee members requested additional details about applicant and award lists by neighborhood; Chair Santana said he would follow up and that the committee would make applicant information available to councilors. Councilors also suggested a subsequent hearing that includes police senior leadership to address staffing, deployment and summer‑safety planning in more depth.

No formal vote was taken at the committee hearing. Chair Santana said he intends to bring the order to accept and expand the FY26 Shannon grant (Docket 0970) to the full City Council for discussion and a vote at the next council meeting. "I intend to recommend as chair that this matter ... pass," he said.

Next steps: the committee will provide the full list of applicants and awardees to council offices and the chair will introduce the docket to the full Council for a vote next week.