Wicked Local Brookline reports a Smythe Street resident found it suspicious that a "large black man" was just standing there, so when she went up to him to ask if he needed anything and he replied "no," she called police - who responded and found "he checked out OK."
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Comments
I'm a 'privileged' white male
By anon
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 6:55pm
and was stopped by Brookline police because somebody who apparently looked like me was acting 'suspicious', according to a concerned citizen who dialled 911. And, as a teenager living in JP, Brookline cops would frequently stop and question me and my white friends, especially coming to or from the pool at Cleveland Circle (Boston/Brighton), or around Coolidge Corner or Brookline Village, where we sometimes hung out. So, although anecdotal, I'd say 'suspicious' characters of all kinds run the risk of a concerned Brookline resident dialling 911 on them.
I was
By anon
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 8:29pm
Stop and pulled out my car in Brookline as a teen driving through because "I should have been in that neighborhood." Mind you I live a mile down the street in Westie. I was also pulled out of my car in mattapan by two black cops for the same reason. Literally asked, "you're white what the hell are you doing here, buying drugs?"
"youre white"
By Scumquistador
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 12:47pm
Too bad that sounds like it was before the days of dash cams and easily recorded audio
Does not exactly look like
By anon
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 8:36pm
Does not exactly look like the toniest part of Brookline, for what that's worth.
Must of been one of those
By JPHipster
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 9:03pm
Must of been one of those Herald commenting, tea bagging, Charlie Baker voting, running over cyclist while SUV driving, pro cop mouth breathing conservatives that are so common in Brookline.
But there's more
By Neighbor2
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 9:27pm
This is all on the same link of recent Brookline police logs. No idea if the woman was accusing someone of something, but it looks like all of Brookline is either horrible scoff-laws, or just nutty moonbats. You decide:
Spying: A caller reported a man in a study cube at the Main Library who had been looking at home surveillance information and photographs. The caller was concerned for the kids. He was described as a balding white man in his 40s, with glasses, jeans and a blue parka.
Leaf blower: An Oakland Road resident called to report a leaf blower scofflaw at 12:16 p.m.
Turkeys: Someone reported a group of turkeys, one of whom appeared hurt, at Beacon Street and Dean Road at 2:47 p.m.
Leaf blowers: A resident of Stetson Street called twice about a leaf-blower that exceeded the decibel limit. Police said it checked out O.K. A resident of the 1500 block of Beacon Street reported a leaf blower starting before 8 a.m. A caller reported hearing a leaf blower coming from the area of Fire Station 1 at Route 9 and Washington Street at 7:39 a.m.
No admittance: A Naples Road resident reported that a black woman in an orange hat and green coat tried to get into her building as she was leaving. The woman also tried to get into a building three doors down.
I noticed that "spying"
By anon
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 1:33pm
I noticed that "spying" report too. Freakish. I hope they tracked down the caller and questioned him a good long while about what he's doing shoulder surfing in the library. What the heck is going on in Brookline these days ? Something in the water ? TJs have a sale on stupid flakes ?
Western Burbs
By Bob Murphy
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 9:37pm
This reminds me of the time a Wellesley elementary school put a young African American student on a Metco bus at the end of the day....but he actually lived in Wellesley. Those liberal burbs seem to have difficulty with diversity when it is within their borders (and outside of school hours).
Wellesley, liberal? ha! You
By anon
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:02pm
Wellesley, liberal? ha! You're joking, right?
Liberal?
By SwirlyGrrl
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:24pm
Sure thing.
My bad. You're right, they're
By Bob Murphy
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:31pm
My bad. You're right, they're not truly liberal. I just meant many of them tend to support liberal candidates for state and national office while residing in communities that don't reflect liberal values, like diversity of any kind (racial, socioeconomic, etc). If people get hassled simply for existing as black people within their borders in the 21st century, they should re-examine their communities.
Wellesley College
By SwirlyGrrl
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:37pm
It is in the town of Wellesley. It is not the town of Wellesley.
Howie Carr is a liberal, then?
"liberal burbs"
By Nick L
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:27pm
It's just like those liberals in Wellesley to give Charlie Baker 55% of the vote: http://www.wellesleyma.gov/pages/FOV1-0001FDBB/fin...
And a near 50-50 tie between Scott Brown and Martha Coakley back in 2010: http://www.wellesleyma.gov/pages/FOV1-0001FDBB/fin...
So liberal!
Now, now
By adamg
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:32pm
Wellesley is no Brookline, but this is not your father's Wellesley, when David Locke and Royall Switzler (remember him?) ran the joint. They actually vote for Democrats these days. Given that Baker got elected, I'm not sure a 55% vote for him was all that convincing in Wellesley.
Yikes
By Bob Murphy
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:51pm
Thanks Adam. And I agree it's no Brookline or Cambridge or Amherst.
To others, I didn't mean to step in a minefield, but yes I think if I had to ascribe a label to Wellesley these days, when the type of old school Republican candidates Adam referenced aren't really around anymore, and given Wellesley voted for Deval Patrick and Obama twice (each) by decent margins, I'd say at the state and fed level, it's more liberal than conservative. regardless it's pretty troubling a kid could be put on a bus back to Boston simply because he wasn't white in Wellesley, or that the Brookline police would be summoned because a black person was standing in a Brookline neighborhood. It's all the more troubling when you realize that the BBJ identified these towns as having some of the highest percentages of best educated residents in the state.
True
By Nick L
Sat, 11/21/2015 - 10:52pm
And don't forget that they voted consistently for this guy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barney_Frank
But 55% is considerably more than Baker won statewide. I think Wellesley is fairly center-right as far as Massachusetts goes, and certainly further right than, say, Boston. Regardless, it's certainly not unambiguously liberal.
55 percent is only slightly
By anon
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 7:36am
55 percent is only slightly more than half last time I checked....
three-way race
By itchy
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 2:50pm
Slightly more than half in a three-way race with Falchuck being the only liberal candidate.
i wouldn't exactly call the
By Willis
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 11:47am
i wouldn't exactly call the cops but i wouldn't love it if a large, suspicious looking man of any color was hanging out in front of my house.
not everything has to be racist people, geez!
And Adam just retweeted this
By anon
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 1:23pm
And Adam just retweeted this:
https://twitter.com/RobMcLaughlinWR/status/6684925...
Please someone tell us the rules about when it's ok to see something say something to the popo.
Oh Horrors
By SwirlyGrrl
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 5:09pm
Somebody might MOVE IN!
That is what this sounds like to me. The last time I bought property, I was (OMG!) cycling around the neighborhood taking pictures!
It's always OK
By Bob Leponge
Mon, 11/23/2015 - 5:57pm
It's always OK. The police will either check out or not check out the suspicious person, and, if they check him out, he will either check out or not.
Glass houses
By Jane
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 2:43pm
Sorry, I missed it. What part of calling the police to report a stranger just standing there for an extended period of time is racist? Does anyone here actually know she only called the police because he was black as opposed to because he was a stranger, acting strangely (by just standing across the street from her house for a long time)? I'm sorry but while not illegal, it's not a usual occurrence for people to simply stand across the street from your home for an extended period of time and as responsible citizens, if we find something unusual, it's not unreasonable to call the police to investigate rather than handling a situation yourself. If anyone here has proof that this woman would not have called the police if it had been a large white man, please share. Otherwise it'd appear that many of the commenters on here may be the ones who are exhibiting prejudice behavior and jumping to conclusions.
your comment in visual form:
By Malcolm Tucker
Sun, 11/22/2015 - 4:05pm
[img]http://33.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m25s9paA8Q1roamg...
WOW
By ihaveablackdaughter
Mon, 11/23/2015 - 1:51pm
This white woman needs to call the cops on the WHITE males who are allegedly breaking into peoples home doing strange things. SMH!
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