Further proof Boston needs a functioning civilian review board for police
By adamg - Sun, 08/10/2008 - 9:11am.
Mike Ball looks at what we know about that cruiser-hitting-baby-stroller incident in Jamaica Plain on Thursday, concludes:
Where were the Boston police department and union officials during responsibility lessons? It looks like they didn't take, much less pass, them.
In what could well be a short-term incident of physical pain for a baby and anguish for the mom, another city cop seems to have put on an artificial halo. The undisputed aspect is that a cop drove a patrol car around the corner, hitting a stroller while not yielding to mom and kid in a marked crosswalk. ...
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I thought UH readers have
I thought UH readers have done a pretty good job identifying the issue of responsibility and consequences on this thread HERE.
and then...
Somehow we must have missed the officer and BPD reporting anything other than trying to blame to mom and baby. Where is that?
Ayup
One of the issues I have to deal with is when to add something new to an existing post or start an entirely new post (heavy weighs the crown and all that) - see Woodman, David and Rockefeller, Not His Real Name.
In this case, I thought Mike's post warranted a separate discussion here because he was taking the discussion in a different direction - not just discussing the rights and wrongs of that specific incident, but getting into the issue of a civilian review board, which is a more long-standing issue.
Toothless
Plus at the time it started, the Globe noted the key problems of no investigative or subpoena power. Those remain and it's still police policing police. Other big cities have admitted that doesn't work.
when babies in strollers on crosswalks are in danger from BPD
Yeah, I see how a civilian review board is a new element of the discussion, and how a new Post will garner more attention than a new comment on an old post.
Does the city council have a standing committee on police operations that can make findings and put pressure on Menino and Davis to embrace ACCOUNTABILITY?
if I hit a baby in a carriage in a crosswalk
I can picture the BPD news brief
"woman brazenly charges through crosswalk, hitting a stroller carrying infant, throwing the child through the air and causing the child to crash on the sidewalk. mother & infant were rushed to the hospital"
none of that "officer brushed the carraiage" stuff.
reporting is skewed.