A gunshot knocked 7 year old Divan Silva off his bike and onto the pavement. He was bleeding. He’d been shot in the buttocks. The sound of the gunshot sent his mother running in his direction and strangers coming to his aid. The random gunshot, which hit the second grader, also struck a 20 year old in the head. Neither was a life-threatening wound.

Everybody heard the shot, but beyond some on the scene witnesses describing a young man in his teens, there have been few tips. And that’s despite an anonymous tip line. Immediately after the shooting, Boston Police commissioner Bill Evans urged community cooperation. 

But now two weeks since the shooting police have made no arrests. Worse, they believe people who might know something don’t want to come forward, afraid of possible violent repercussions for breaking what some call the anti snitching code. Police Superintendent in Chief William Gross directly addressed this with residents, saying  “Our seven year olds should be able to ride down the street.”

But, many would be tipsters simply do not trust the police. Days after Divan was shot, Bowdoin Geneva residents gathered for a meeting with Boston police officials. On hand-- Mayor Marty Walsh, Commissioner Evans, The Police Chief, City Councilors Ayanna Pressley, Frank Baker, Charles Yancey, and State Senators Linda Dorcena Forry and Sonia Chang-Diaz, plus more than 200 members of the community. As reported in the Dorchester Reporter, the discussion about Divan’s shooting was framed by the residents’ complaints and concerns about past police encounters and response. The meeting ended with calls for the creation of a grass roots long-term action plan, and the Mayor’s promise to announce a new public safety plan soon.

I’ve been thinking about how when it comes to keeping silent street code and police code are mirrors of each other. The headlines are full of stories about street shootings of innocent people like Divan caught in the crossfire, and also about police encounters where unarmed young black men end up dead. For all the good citizens who keep silent when a situation like Divan’s shooting occurs, there are numbers of good police officers who’ve retreated behind the blue wall of silence after witnessing brute force by rogue cops.  In the words of one online commenter “If cops won’t snitch on each other, why should we snitch for them?”

Commissioner Evans has demonstrated his determination to change the dynamic, which keeps witnesses from speaking up, be they ordinary people or police officers. And Mayor Walsh’s plans for an effective Citizens Review Board could make some cracks in the trust barriers. But until these changes start to have impact, I fear a silent stalemate, which hides criminals and protects dangerous cops.

None of this matters to Divan’s mother who wants to know who sprayed bullets in broad daylight, and put a kid happily riding a bicycle at risk.  She says simply, “I could have lost my son.”