http://www.thedailyitemoflynn.com/news/ ... leid=12556

Police step up patrols at Breakheart to prevent turf war
By James Haynes and Chris Stevens
Tuesday, July 11, 2006

SAUGUS -- State Police and local park officials vowed to step up patrols at Breakheart Reservation in response to an increasingly visible gang presence recently.

State Police from the Danvers barracks responded Sunday night - a show of force, according to one official - after more than two dozen suspected members of the MS 13 gang congregated at the reservation's beach. State Police Capt. Greg Foley estimated that a crowd of roughly 30 youths, ranging between 16 and 21 years-old, attempted to stake their claim on the beach, intimidating other beachgoers.

There were no arrests Sunday, and the suspected gang members left when ordered. But if the evening's incident itself was dismissed as "minor league" by Foley, the concern over a larger trend of gangs attempting to establish de facto ownership of the beach and recreational areas is being taken seriously by both law enforcement and park officials.

"Breakheart is a small reservation with a small swimming area," said Foley. "We want to keep it a family-oriented place to go, and we want to keep them free of that place. We will be sending more patrols down there more regularly."

Ed Murray, chairman of the Friends of Breakheart said each summer there seems to be an influx of problems, including gang activity, at the beaches in the park, but he is concerned that it's escalating this year.

During the Fourth of July week Murray said there were two incidents involving fistfights; at least one included gang members from Chelsea.

"We're not going tolerate it," Murray said. "We want this to be a safe place."

Murray said so far funds allowed for state police details in the park, but money is running low and he fears the park will fall to the same fate it did 30 years ago.

"We almost lost the park back in the '70s to biker gangs," Murray said. "We've made quantum leaps since then."

Murray said the incidents are disheartening because most of the people visiting the beach area are there to relax.

"It's an urban park, a place for people in the city to have a place to come out and cool off," he said. " We want this to be a safe place."