Hey, there! Log in / Register
Blood flowing like water across Boston; four dead
By adamg on Tue, 07/05/2011 - 12:47am
Updated Monday morning. Complete list and map of violent crimes over the weekend.
At least sixteen people were shot this holiday weekend, four fatally.
Boston Police report two men found in a car with gunshot wounds on Columbia Road near Wyola Place were declared dead. Photo of the scene.
That came not long after two people were stabbed at 53 Thomas Park in South Boston, and about the same time as somebody was shot in the arm at 114 Glenville Ave. in Allston, according to AlertNewEngland.
Also succumbing to gunshot wounds were a man shot on Hollander St. in Roxbury and one of three men shot on Norton Street in Dorchester.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Menino and puppet Davis want Carson Beach and the port? Really?
A dozen...correction, 14 now shot in 72 hours, many others stabbed, untold numbers robbed or assaulted while Menino and Commissioner Ed "Big Baby" Davis have the audacity to seek even more turf? Are you shitting me?
As June Cleaver used to say to Wally and the Beaver, "finish what's on your plate before asking for more."
Heat + humidity + holiday = homicides
I agree, and made this point on the thread about the policing "issue" on the SB Waterfront that is really not an issue at all.
My only other comment is it seems like this is another example of the 3 H's leading to the fourth:
Heat + humidity + holiday = homicides.
I believe someone did a statistical analysis of this a few years ago and found a very strong correlation - my apologies as I don't currently have time to look for and link to it.
Must be those Nike window
Must be those Nike window displays. Look what they've done! What hath Nike wrought...
I demand the mayor hires window checkers to constantly monitor all storefront window displays. We also need to crack down on dirt bikes. You like to take a bike for a spin in NH once in a while? Too bad, you might never ride it around here but you're in King Menino's kingdom, gimme that bike!
We're making such great progress, can't wait to have Menino elected again.
Time for the Licensing Board to step up
Based on past logic, the Pops should be shut down for a while based on their proximity to all this senseless violence.
Good point Michael, close Back Bay bars and cover windows on 4th
If they had only closed the Back Bay, Dorchester, Roxbury and Southie bars one half hour before the 1812 Overture and ordered them to black out their windows so pedestrians couldn't see in, much of this could have been avoided. Also, Menino wants to know who invited Martina McBride? Her "Independence Day" hit lyrics are about (domestic) violence, not the 4th, so no wonder we have mayhem on a hot, humid night with a singer crooning about beatings. The Mayor reveals (actual quotes) that "if you see something suspicious, call 911" and on a hot day, "if you have a fan, use it."
SEE SOMETHING SAY NOTHING
Nike will market the following shirts
SEE SOMETHING SAY NOTHING
FREE WHITEY
TROOPERS ARE YOUR LAST BEST DEFENSE EXCEPT FOR A LIFEGUARD AT CARSON BEACH
Companies, spend tens of
Companies, spend tens of billions of dollars every year on advertising designed to influence peoples' behaviour. Therefore, they must think, as does Nike, that words, slogans and pictures can effect on what people do.
So whats BPD/Mumbles going to do
about it?
I was down in NYC last night, and was (as always) surprised to see cops actually walking beats on foot, on bikes, in heavily traveled areas, directing traffic, ect. ect. ect.
There was a presence everywhere, and most seemed rather friendly.
It's time to ditch the cruisers and put a few squads of officers into these trouble neighborhoods on foot. Yes, cops need other cops in cars for backup, but not every patrol should be compromised of a quick run through the hood, parking at Dunks for your freebee's and than responding to calls after the fact.
anon squared.
Manhattan is staffed and budgeted differently for Boston for a million different reasons. Boston can't even hire enough qualified people to fill your basic patrol functions, how do you expect them to fill the streets like NYC does?
And cops haven't gotten free coffee in Boston for about 15 years not.
Dunks be damned then
They still do outside of the city, in most place. Must be the owners prerogative.
Still, whats NYC doing that Boston isn't to get new officers on the force? I do know that Boston doesn't pay very well, and also forces a 1 year resident requirement on applying. Which seems very stupid, seeing as it's middle class is vastly shrinking as more luxury condo's are going up, while everyone that wants to remain middle class is fleeing to the burbs and areas just outside the city.
Either way, something needs to be done. Property taxes are going up, but very little is happening to show us we're getting a good return on them.
We have done wonder's with reducing crime over the last 30 years, but it seems we're at an impasse with Menino & the new guys at BPD over getting creative to further the gains we've made. Focusing and cracking down on these trouble spots should be paramount.
Boston is consistent with every other city in the country
for the most part when it comes to crime/murder stats over the past 30 years.
As for the size of the force, that goes by the budget, but I also think the residency requirement before you apply for the job is a bigger hurdle to Boston Police staffing than having to live there after you get the job (although that is a hurdle too).
As for real estate taxes and taxes in general, Boston residents do much, much better than their NY counterparts.
And I've talked about this before, but "cracking down" on trouble spots means pulling over black people in cars for minor violations. 1% of the time you find a gangbanger with a warrant that may have killed again if not pulled over, but 99% of the time you find an innocent hard working person who couldn't afford to get his catalytic converter fixed so he has a rejection sticker. Then 1% of that 99% files a racial profiling complaint, 10% call their city counselor to complain about the police, and another .5% gets deported for not having a license under the secure communities program.
So does Menino listen to the anon/squared of the world (I am assuming white, not living in gang/murder hoods), or does he listen to black city counselors and other residents complaining about the crackdowns. Menino can tell them that he gets that 1% off the street and might save a few lived in the process, but do they believe him? Do you? Who matters more to him?
It comes down to politics.
And
confectionary statistics
Yes, we know you are involved in law enforcement in some capacity, but does that entitle you to invent statistics? Where do you get all these 1%, 99%, .5% bullshit numbers? If you don't actually have numbers, then don't use them. You can say, "based on my years of experience as a police officer I would say that when we racially profile people, the vast majority of these folks are innocent, but we do occasionally catch someone who has a record and whom I judge to be potentially very dangerous." Hell, I might not like that, but there's not much to argue about in terms of your saying it. It's your perception. Attaching numbers like .5% is dishonest. We have no idea how many people are racially profiled by BPD and even less of an idea of how many of those are actually criminals.
We actually have numbers from BPD and ICE about how many people have been deported through S-Comm and how many of those have criminal records (beyond potential violations of immigration statutes). And I'd imagine, but I don't know, that there should be numbers on the number of racial profiling complaints filed each year. Feel free to quote those.
Generally speaking I don't think there's much to complain about in terms of crime rates. Boston compares favorably with other big cities, if not better. Any four year old shot in a park is one too many, but as it's been noted we're actually down relative to last year. And this during a crappy economy that leads people to do desperate and stupid things. Legalize and regulate weed (tax the fuck out of it), put in more resources for dealing with hard core addicts and alcoholics and get manufacturing jobs back into the cities and we'd probably see some of this crime drop even lower.
First off you are missing my point.
And you can feel free to put in whatever number you like. I used numbers like 1% and 99% to show that those numbers are in the extremes and those numbers aren't hard to find and they aren't bullshit. And I was talking about what would happen anyway, so the numbers shouldn't have been looked at as real statistics.
I guess to be fair I could have just put in variables for those numbers and my point would have been the same.
But you missed my point about the racial profling part. I'm not saying the cops should racially profile. I'm saying they will get blamed for it when they don't do it. It is very hard to prove racial profiling in black neighborhoods because of the driving populations there ("officially", racial profiling is when you go outside 2 or 3? standard deviations of the driving poplulation with your citation totals and that is going to be hard to do in black neighborhoods).
So my statistic (.5%) was of those arrested or charged with a crime after a traffic stop. Those numbers aren't hard to find and and I would be fall right around that number somewhere.
And no, you don't have all the numbers of those who are deported by ICE, you only have the numbers of those who are flagged in the immigration system. I do have to admit that the Boston Globe article had some strange stories that I was not aware of, but there are still many of illegal immigrants who don't get deported, and they don't count on ICE stats because ICE doesn't even know that they are illegal. That is a huge issue when it comes to ICE deportation stats from the secure communities programs.
Point missed, follow up fail
Yes, you're right I did miss the point you were making about the police being accused of racial profiling, no matter what they do. But I did not bring up S-Comm you did. And yes, we do have the data on all those who were deported under S-Comm. That is what they are tracking. The numbers of all those deported by ICE? That's a different issue - you brought up S-Comm, not me. And in any case it has nothing to do with violence that erupted over the holiday weekend, does it?
Finally, numbers do matter. If you don't have the numbers don't use them. It's like significant figures. If you had used variables: "x number of people pulled over of which y% were criminals" that sounds a lot different than saying 99% and 1%, regardless of how much you say that people automatically know the numbers don't mean anything. Especially since you frequently cite your access to privileged info or insight that we wouldn't have because we're just not in law enforcement (which aside from O-FISHy maybe?, seems to be the case) to bolster your arguments, you should be a bit more clear about this. I don't expect you to talk out your ass about law enforcement as you seem to hold it near and dear, so I usually put stock in the numbers you put out there. You're talking beer, Red Sox or politics, maybe I'm assuming there's a bit more bombast in the talk -- but not cop stats.
First off.
You might have the amount of people who were deported under the S-comm program, but you do not have the number of the amount of people who weren't deported and/or held for deportation. So those deportation numbers don't really mean anything for the S-Comm program and thats why those numbers don't really mean anything to me. The only thing that really matters about that program is that people are being deported without having a violent or non-violent convictions. So the .5% or 75% statistic wouldn't even matter. One person alone being deported would be an issue.
And the numbers were a hypothetical so I still don't see what the big deal was. I could have used terms like "small percentage" or "large percentage" and it would have had the same effect. The numbers aren't the issue and I underinflated them anyway.
What's he gonna do? Nothing.
As usual, as long as these crimes keep happening in neighborhoods that don't get profiled in Boston Magazine, they'll be forgotten by the time the next rain washes the blood off the sidewalk.
South Boston, Jamaica Plain, Hyde Park, Back Bay, Allston
I don't know about Boston Magazine, but six of the crimes happened in the areas I just named, none of which are traditionally high-crime neighborhoods. Seven if you throw in Neponset too.
Menino's worst fear...Drudge running with Boston violence again
Drudge has linked to the Globe's "In just five hours, 13 people are shot and stabbed around Boston; four killed." Menino was apoplectic a few weeks ago when Drudge dared to run with something like "1000 gangbangers battle on Boston beach." I wonder what his response will be to this one? Cue Menino walking through Dorchester or Mattapan and buying an ice cream cone with a dozen police brass, two dozen cameras and a minister or two in tow in 3-2-1...
Was Mumbles one of them?
Is there any particular reason we haven't heard a peep from the Mayor on this subject today?
(Yes, given that there is no chance that I will be voting for this character next go 'round, that was a rhetorical question...)
I fail to see . . .
. . . how any of this past weekend's sad events are a comment upon the mayor's performance.
I doubt he pulled the trigger
But if crime levels aren't the responsibility of the mayor, then whose responsibility are they?
That dog has a furry tail....
I'm not speaking for the prior post, but I think looking at statistical trends to assess the performance of the mayor & police works far better than flinging blame for a data subset like monkeys with feces. Sure they're ultimately responsible (along with the politicians who fund not just the police, but other programs which help reduce crime), but a bloody weekend does not a trend make.
For what it's worth, I'm a bit jaded because I lived in DC when it was the homicide capital, a city about our size with well over 400 murders a year at the time. I lived in a sketchy neighborhood, but far from the worst, and it was worse than nearly anything here.
update to above
"By yesterday, there had been 24 killings in the city this year, compared with 32 the same time last year"
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/art...
Ask Bill Cosby whose responsibility it is.
To be sure, policing can be improved.
We all know, however, that unless you could get to a ratio of cops to people that you will never be able to get to, you cannot stop this kind of nonsense.
I think that Bill Cosby has been particularly eloquent in offering an answer to your question, but his is certainly not the only one.
Security, in many senses of the word, begins (or ends) at home.
Poor Inner City - My Home
I feel so bad for the people in my community (Boston and surrounding neigborhoods). Our police departments have failed us time and time again. The conduct of a city reflects its law enforcment and unfortunately our officers seem to be collecting pay without production. The police department is full of arrogant, non-caring, smart mouth, no respect for thier oaths offcicers and I have experienced the ignorance of law officers first hand. These officers of the law (if you ask me) are in it just for the money and the power...nothing else. They are not real soldiers of our communities.
You tell them Tracy!
They are too mean. If they were nicer there would have been less murders this past weekend.
I don't know about your
I don't know about your neighborhood, but mine has good police.
The causes of crime I do see are not enough decent jobs, poor urban planning, drug abuse, and the biggest one... drum roll, please... broken social programs that PAY people to make kids they're incapable of raising or don't even care about raising.
I wholeheartedly agree with the first part of your sentence, but
disagree somewhat with the second part:
While there are parents on welfare who really do have kids that they're clearly not fit to raise, or are unwilling to raise, most of the people who go on welfare are people who're physically or mentally handicapped in some way or other and can't work, or who are going through some sort of crisis, such as a divorce, illness, or loss of a job and need assistance until they're able to get back on their feet. These social programs are a necessity if we want to continue to have a democratic society overall.
Columbia Road victims identified
Boston Police report they were LaShon Washington, 39, and Joseph Winston, 26, both of Dorchester.
The Globe interviewed Washington's relatives, says he was an innocent victim of killers out for his cousin, Winston.