Much of the homeless violence is alcohol- or drug-related, police say.
"They fight over beer and they'll fight over some spare change," Pasquarello says.
The large homeless populations of Harvard and Central Square competing for space, food, and money means violence is all-but inevitable.
"It's part of life when you have a large homeless population that congregates in an area like Harvard Square," Pasquarello says.
Homeless youths tend to cause more trouble than homeless older adults, police say.
"If you're up in the Harvard Square area, the pit area, you're always going to have the kids up there causing a problem in the late evenings, early morning hours," he says.
Two serious slashings last year in front of the CVS and Store 24 in Harvard Square and another three assaults on the Cambridge Common underscore the importance of dealing with these issues.
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