BishopAccountability.org

Records: English High School dean not on cops’ radar

By Laurel J. Sweet, Antonio Planas
BostHerald
March 9, 2015

http://www.bostonherald.com/news_opinion/local_coverage/2015/03/records_english_high_school_dean_not_on_cops_radar

Shaun O. Harrison during his arraignment at Roxbury District Court.
Photo by John Wilcox

More than two years of police records released to the Herald yesterday appear to support Police Commissioner William B. Evans’ claim that the Rev. Shaun O. Harrison was not on his department’s radar before last week’s arrest on charges that he tried to murder a teenager who was selling pot for him.

In response to a Herald request made Thursday, police yesterday turned over a log of 77 calls for service from Pompeii Street in Roxbury — where Harrison, 55, shares a three-family home — made between Jan. 1, 2013, and his arrest Wednesday. None of the calls indicate drug activity, and responses specific to Harrison’s building, but not his apartment, are for a stolen cellphone and noise disturbances.

Police spokesman Lt. 
Michael McCarthy repeated Evans’ claim that police knew nothing, saying “there was no indication” of criminal activity by Harrison, who last week was fired as “dean of academy” — a parent-student coordinator’s job — at English High School in Jamaica Plain.

“The only time we became aware of anything was after the shooting, when we talked to the victim, nor did any of the neighbors let us know what was going on or call the cops about drugs on the street. We had no knowledge of anything going on with him,” McCarthy said. “We’re extremely shocked and disappointed, if the allegations are proven to be true. He was involved with youth, so he was certainly a faith-based resource that we could reach out to.”

Tuesday night, police found the 17-year-old victim on Magazine Street in Roxbury suffering from an execution-style gunshot to the back of the head. He is expected to survive. On Friday, investigators executed a search warrant at Harrison’s home and reported recovering two handguns, a rifle, a shotgun, multiple calibers of ammunition, cocaine and a large amount of marijuana. Police said detectives also took note of a “large gang mural” inside of Harrison’s apartment.

Harrison is being held on $250,000 bail. As of last night, no new charges had been added to a list that includes assault with intent to murder.

McCarthy said prior complaints about drug activity in the neighborhood that Evans acknowledged Saturday regarded “kids on the street.”

Evans said Saturday, “We received two complaints nearby in the late spring and early summer, and both were vetted out by our drug unit. We investigated all the complaints and believe they were unfounded.”

 




.


Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.