Naacp Scores Police-civilian Patrol in Largely Jewish Area As Potential Vigilante Force

A proposal for a police-civilian patrol force for the largely Jewish, high-crime areas of Mattapan and Dorchester has been scored as a potential “vigilante committee” by the president of the local branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Leon Nelson. “You must realize that there are no safeguards to insure that this will not occur,” he wrote A. Reginald Eaves, administrator of the Mayor’s office of Human Rights, adding, “It is, furthermore, incredible that top city officials have championed this program as it is presently designed without realizing the dangers inherent in such a plan.” Mr. Nelson viewed the proposed patrol as repressive of blacks, claiming that “If crime rose on Beacon Hill or other parts of the city we are certain that the police would augment their force to effectively deal with the problem.” He said the proposed patrol “will cause irritation and frustration to quickly surface” and “is doomed to failure,” and asserted that crime control was possible without “shoddy and ill-fated solutions.” The patrol, which is scheduled to begin this month, was approved last month by Mayor Kevin White; Robert M. Segal, president of the Jewish Community Council; Robert E. Segal, JCC executive director, and the Rev. Arthur Walmsley, general secretary of the Massachusetts Council of Churches. Synagogue vandalism, muggings and robberies have been prevalent in Mattapan and Dorchester.