Rev. Wall warns visitors to stay clear of ‘murder capital’

Rev. Bruce Wall, pastor of Global Ministries Christian Church in Dorchester, has issued a warning to all visitors and tourists traveling to Boston, urging them to stay clear of the city because Boston is “in a state of emergency.”

Wall has emphasized that children as well as visitors are dying at an alarming rate to violence.

“You will take your life into your own hands if you travel to Boston,” stated Wall.

Wall’s actions follow the recent murder of a young visitor from Danville, Ky., named Chiara Levin. The 22-year-old, a 2006 graduate of the University of Michigan, was shot in the head early Saturday morning. According to published reports, Levin and two of her girlfriends accepted a ride to a late-night party in Dorchester from men they met at an after-hours bar.

Wall told the Boston Herald that he would post his warning fliers all around the city if Mayor Thomas M. Menino didn’t declare a state of emergency.

“We again plead with city officials to issue a public ‘state of emergency’ before the homicide rate, now one death per week in 2007, verifies that Boston is the ‘capitol city’ and the murder capital of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts,” said Wall.

Menino’s alleged failure to hear Wall on his warning seems to further sow the rift between them. The pastor, who says he was a kitchen-cabinet advisor for past police administrations, claims that Menino has prevented Police Commissioner Edward Davis from meeting with Wall since his arrival at the end of 2006.

“We need to work together, not create division in order to have peace in our streets,” said Menino. “We will remain vigilant and continue to ask community members and clergy to help us.”

Wall says that he is being shunned because he called for Menino to declare the 10-block radius around his Washington Street church a “state of emergency” in December.

“It is clear that Reverend Bruce Wall is experiencing some of the same frustrations that we as a police agency are also experiencing,” said Davis in a statement. “The theory of flooding neighborhoods as an occupying force is counter-productive to our relationship with community members.”

Davis stated that over the past several months the Boston Police Department (BPD) has made efforts to stem the violence. Statistics demonstrate that non-fatal shootings have decreased by 25 to 30 percent.

“Although I recognize that [the decrease] is of no comfort to families of homicide victims, I am confident that our ceaseless efforts and sustained programs are working to address a long-range problem,” said Davis. “We will continue to work closely with clergy members, community residents and our officers to develop trust and communication, to enhance public safety and to protect quality of life throughout the city of Boston.”

Amidst the controversy, Davis doesn’t deny the importance of community assistance.

“The Boston Police Department, through community policing, is dedicated to collaborating with local community organizations, clergy, neighborhood activists and our many crime watch groups to address the issues related to crime and public safety,” he said.