"No Snitchin" Tee Shirt Fad Suggests Support for Gang Activity in New Bedford, Massachusetts

New Bedford is located just south of Cape Cod Massachusetts. The city is divided into four areas, the southend , northend, westend and central area. That's not the only thing that is divided in this city. The residents of New Bedford are divided. Some have lived here all their lives, brought up and raised in the city schools. There is an ethnic variety of people here including, Cape Verde, Hispanic, Portuguese, and others.

There are also a number of street gangs rampant in New Bedford. Past history of homicides, and the "No Snitching " policy in the city prompted America's Most Wanted show to air a segment on the violence in this city. The show featured 3 unsolved murder cases, and the response was almost nothing.

Cases stemmed from murdered victims from the years, 2001, 2004, and 2005. Mr. Morris, correspondent for America's Most wanted, said "The show received a handful of calls and one email thanking the producers for running it," "I've been doing this for 13 years and was surprised by this" he said, according to Standard Times reporter Rob Margetta. The response of callers was very low.

District Attorney at the time of the showing said he wouldn't expect America's Most wanted to uncover much information. "Does it surprise anyone that people who have remained silent for five years didn't start talking because they saw something on TV?" No, He said. "People don't want to cooperate with investigations."

According to the report by The Standard Times, Jim Mathes, president of the New Bedford Area Chamber of Commerce, set up a reward program for local witnesses was quoted as saying, "It's discouraging for me," "I just wish more people who knew something would stand up and say what they know." The city streets still operate under a "Code of Silence."

According to Bristol Mass. Free Press, "Part of it is witness intimidation, but a bigger part of it is a street culture that has developed. You can go into any urban or hip hop shop in the city and purchase a "Stop Snitching" T-shirts, and these are being sold by legitimate, and an even influential city people, with direct access to this population at risk."

Phyllis Lopes is promoting another kind of shirt. This one urges people to speak out against the silence. Mrs. Lopes grandson was murdered in the year 2004, and his case was unsolved.

Since the airing on America's Most Wanted, there have been other gang-style murders in the city. One mother Bernadette DePina, known as "Bunny" whose son was an alleged gang member was shot and killed in her own bed just days after her son was charged with killing one man and wounding another.

As of yet, none of the murders have been solved, and the city remains with it's "Code of Silence," as some of the citizens walk around with "No Snitchin" shirts.