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Some Winchester cops may be in trouble for refusing to help quell riot on train after Boston rap concert
By adamg on Thu, 08/18/2011 - 8:30am
The Herald reports conductors on a post-Mac Miller commmuter-rail train pleaded with cops in Winchester for help with the punch-throwing rebels without a cause, but none would board the train in the 45 minutes until Transit Police could arrive, demanding to know why the train crew hadn't asked for help in Somerville or Medford.
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Comments
Winchester Cops?
Try Winchester Cop - they tend to have only one or two on duty at a time.
I doubt the attitudinal Mefuh cops would have helped - they have a long running contract dispute where they don't do anything they aren't forced to do through lenghty legal wrangling.
no excuse for cowardice
There should be a full investigation of all police actions that night.why not hire bill bratton to be the lead investigator
They sound like they're
They sound like they're taking it personal, as if the conductors wanted to "stick it" to them Winchestah cops or something. Get reallll. Anyone who is not responsible for not responding at WPD should be fired for *not doing their job*. What if someone got beat to death or whipped out a blade and started waving it around? Grow the fuck up, WPD.
Train doesn't stop in Somerville
The Lowell trains pass through Somerville on a fully grade-separated right-of-way without stopping. There are a couple places where cops could reach it (behind Joy Street, or Rogers Foam's parking lot, or perhaps at Somerville Junction where a discontinued branch line meets it) but it would not be straightforward.
this
I came to post about this. It's doubly insulting. Somerville gets no commuter rail service on Lowell, and the assholes have the temerity to demand police response from Somerville?
I'm pretty sure...
...it was their unmitigated audacity not their temerity that the assholes relied on. It looked like the fucking nerve at first, then I thought douche-swilling gall, but then it came into full view and sure enough, unmitigated audacity.
The Somerville PD should have jumped onto the train and busted into it in a Bruce Willis/Keanu Reeves style, I guess. Because you wouldn't want the Winchester Police to have to deal with it. I'm assuming the MBTA cops have jurisdiction on the commuter line? Which is kind of weird once you get way out into the hinterlands of 128 or >gasp< 495 -- do they have to drive all the way out from Boston?
Note the 45 minute response
Note the 45 minute response time? 30 of those were probably getting the idling park street SUV ready for the trip to winchester
Didn't this happen at the
Didn't this happen at the same time that subway service was briefly halted downtown because of all the trouble from others coming from the same concert? I'm sure most of the T Police were very busy at that moment.
Much later, I think
That show was long over with by 11:40 pm.
Dereliction of duty
This is why I say things like "call in the National Guard" in response to Massachusetts police issues. And then I scratch my head and wonder why people would disagree with me.
the national would beat the
the national would beat the hell out of them or shoot em and then you'd be complaining about that
Have you seen them in action
Have you seen them in action on the 4th of July? They don't "beat the hell out of" people, nor "shoot em".... They yell like badass mofos and NOBODY fucks with them. I saw a fight breaking out right in front of me and immediately a national guardsman came swiftly walking over yelling at them and they did not screw around, they quickly dispersed in different directions. And then there's people trying to climb the fence on the Storrow, let's say that a couple berating shouts and nobody sticks around. That's all they have to do; the uniform, the voice. That's it.
Complaining?
Hell no! Some kid wants to play gangster on the train, let him get his ass kicked by a soldier. That'll teach him a lesson. I'm all about that.
Civics
1. The military is not to be used against one's own citizens.
2. Law enforcement officers are not judge, jury, and executioner. We've left a lot of that past behind us, and that's a good thing. There's no place for an officer to kick the ass of a punk -- alleged punk, suspected punk, or proven punk.
Barney Fife
I could understand the Winchester Cops being afraid to take on the Kids from Blue Hill Ave or Medfa but the Beverly Farms Posse shouldn't be a cause for retreat. High Noon this wasn't. As far as the Transit cops they should have taken their command post from stripes to respond,