Lowell Sun

Police say business owners' claim unjustified

CHRISTOPHER SCOTT, Sun Staff

Sunday, December 19, 2004 - LOWELL Police say there is no link between teens lingering outside United Teen Equality Center and crime in the downtown, despite a downtown businessman's claims.

Marx Running and Fitness store owner Mark Coddaire charged earlier this month that since UTEC moved in April to its temporary location at 106 Merrimack St. just a couple of doors down from his fledgling business vandalism and graffiti are on the rise.

Coddaire said he's not against UTEC, just the location. Coddaire recently circulated a related petition, which was signed by several other downtown businessmen.

Deputy Police Superintendent Kenneth Lavallee said he compared crime numbers from April to December 2003 and the same period this year.

In 2003, there were 169 "general activity" calls to the area. In 2004, there were only eight more. General activity covers everything from vandalism to graffiti and calls for police assistance.

There were seven calls for vandalism during the nine-month period in 2003, and nine in 2004.

"It increased by two," Lavallee said. "That is not statistically significant."

UTEC is open Monday through Thursday, from 2 to 8 p.m.

Lavallee said such statistics sometimes can be misleading because not all incidents are reported. But he stressed that there is nothing in Police Department records that shows UTEC teens are a problem.

Despite the statistics, Coddaire is sticking to his story.

"You can't arrest teens for yelling inappropriate racial slurs, and you can't arrest 16 teens for standing in front of my door," Coddaire said. "The bottom line here is, they've put an urban playground in the middle of a business district."

But UTEC was pleased to hear the statistics.

"That's excellent. That's great news," said Michael Gallagher, a Lowell lawyer and member of UTEC's board of directors. "We expected no connections as were alleged. Most importantly, we appreciate the continued confidence of the Police Department in our organization."

Christopher Scott's e-mail address is cscott@lowellsun.com