Hub at center of conflict over traffic rules
Staff writer
Whether kids should be allowed to play in the street outside Peabody’s youth center, the Hub, has been hotly debated.
The discussion continued at a city council meeting Monday.
Mayor Catherine Weems was joined at City Hall by council members Kevin Burke and Linda Martinez.
Council member Christopher King attended virtually.
Joe Hutchinson, a volunteer and board member at the Hub, began by emphasizing that the Hub was not responsible for kids in the street.
“When we have staff there, we try to watch the front as much as we can,” Hutchinson said. “But ultimately, it is the police’s job to regulate that stuff.”
Hutchinson lamented how the Hub has been branded as a place for wayward youth.
“I hear rumors all the time about what happens down at the Hub,” Hutchinson said. “People saying there’s vandalism that Hub kids are doing, destruction of property that Hub kids are doing. It’s posted on Facebook. It’s talked about in Pop’s. Threats are made [that] we’re going to get shut down.”
Such accusations are unfounded, he said, adding that “a little bit of grace” should be shown toward the kids.
Peabody police officer Eric Watts got in hot water with local parents last month after threatening youths in the street with $100 fines.
Watts spoke at the Hub Nov 1.
Reporters were not allowed in the meeting, but according to Hutchinson, the officer apologized for the impression he created, and went over ground rules for youths playing in the street.
He said kids could play as long as they did not impede traffic.
“I think it blew up into a big thing, bigger than it needed to be, but I think we’re on a good track now, and everybody’s on the same page,” Hutchinson said.
However, after Hutchinson asked Police Chief Phillip Crom to confirm the rules, it became clear not everybody was on the same page.
“I’m not talking about this up here,” Crom said. “What I’ll do is I’ll type it all up and mail it to you.”
After Hutchinson again asked for clarity, the police chief did comment.
“That scares the heck out of me, a kid lying down in the middle of the road, because if an older person’s coming along and it’s getting dark, they can’t see them. They could run them over,” he said.
After more back-and-forth, Crom seemed to say that youth no longer would be allowed in the street.
“I guess we’ll just keep them out of the road altogether,” he said. “I mean, because if they’re impeding traffic, then that’s a fine.”
Hutchinson and Heather Miles immediately reminded Crom that Watts had told the kids they could be in the street as long as they did not impede traffic.
Crom then reversed course.
“As long as they move out of the road,” he said. “That’s what Eric and I agreed on. Let’s just do that, then. I mean, for one, it’s — well, we’re not going to talk about it.”
Hutchinson expressed concern at the discourse.
“I don’t understand why this is such a hard thing, to get everybody on the same page,” he said. “You got your chief of police and your officer saying different things.… I’m going to let it go. But we need to figure out what the rules are.”
In her closing comments, Weems acknowledged both sides of the debate.
“I agree, there needs to be consistency,” she said. “I think the police are trying to enforce the laws to the best of their ability. Like you said, most of the kids are great. But you have a few that are pushing limits on everything. I mean, I myself have dealt with kids not wanting to get out of the road.”
Weems said the council would look into adding more lighting to Santa Fe Park, so that youths might play there more safely at night.
After the meeting, Crom said once more that youths would be allowed in the street as long as they did not impede traffic.
Martinez, who has criticized kids in the street in the past, declined to comment.
“We want to see the kids have a safe place to go, and I want them to be safe,” Weems said. “I think we have to stay off of Facebook and stuff like that and just talk to each other.”
Crom’s name was misspelled in some earlier editions.