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Police do two sweeps of Methadone Mile, arrest total of 34, most from outside Boston
By adamg on Sat, 08/03/2019 - 11:15am
Boston Police report arresting 16 people on various warrants during a sweep of the area around Massachusetts Avenue and Southampton yesterday following the beatdown of an off-duty corrections officer nearby on Thursday. Of the 16, 10 were from outside Boston.
The sweep follows another sweep Thursday evening in the area that resulted in 18 warrant arrests - 12 of them people from outside Boston, including a Medford man who has warrants out for, among other things, armed assault to murder, assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon, unlawful possession of a loaded firearm, marijuana distribution and a marked-lanes violation.
Nine had warrants charging them with dealing drugs; 15 others have warrants charging them with drug possession. Two had warrants charging them with failing to register as sex offenders.
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Comments
Neighborhoods
I thought this was Roxbury.
If the zip code is Roxbury
Than it's Roxbury.
City of Boston
Does not exist in a vacuum.
390,000 open arrest warrants in MA shows broken system
Methadone Mile is bad enough but the fact that police can walk up to that many people in public who are wanted on an arrest warrant shows a truly broken system on par with the RMV deadly fiasco.
With 390,000 outstanding (open) arrest warrants in MA, the system has become a high-speed circular conveyor belt not just a revolving door. The defendant gets arrested, promises to appear on a new date, fails to appear on new date and the warrant issues again. I've seen people avoid the police for years because they are wanted and on the run. They get arrested and are shocked that for a $40 fee to the bail commissioner they can "promise" to come in Monday. Most never do. Others are released on "personal recognizance" with no fee at all. I'm sure almost all of those arrested on Methadone Mile this week were released with new dates and no intention to ever show up. A new warrant will issue after that and the "chase" is on again. The joke is on us.
Question
When a person enters a shelter are they checked for warrants? Are shelters considered sanctuaries similar to a church and police are not allowed to question the residents and check to see if they have warrants?
Most shelters don't check and won't tell
I'm not sure if the policy differs from shelter to shelter but my experience is that the shelters are a sanctuary and don't check for warrants, in fact I don't think they have that ability/authority. Beyond that, they often won't tell police if a wanted person is staying there. If the person is causing a disturbance at the shelter and the police are called, the police may run them through the computer and must arrest if there is a warrant. In major cases, like murder, robbery, rape, the shelter staff are usually willing to point the police in the right direction.
The main issue is that you could be wanted on a warrant and nervously ducking the police for the past fifty years, finally get arrested at 11 AM and be released by lunchtime if you "promise" to return to the court you have been avoiding for half a century. Responsible people will return to court, many won't. The Methadone Mile crowd know that a warrant is a temporary inconvenience and that's only if the police decide to even run them. To my knowledge, no department has a full-time unit assigned to catching people wanted on warrants because they know it's a joke.
Not only do shelters not
Not only do shelters not check for warrants, they issue shelter ID’s based on the honor system. It’s not uncommon for a shelter resident to hand police a shelter ID with a false name and/or DOB.
Proposed:
We drop the charges against the 34 arrested, on condition that they be exiled to Quincy.
Why Quincy?
Quincy has similar problems with homeless druggies as Boston and Cambridge. Many are young adults. Vast majority aren't from Quincy. They come from metro Boston, Worcester County, South Coast.
Bc Quincy is fighting tooth
Bc Quincy is fighting tooth and nail against rebuilding the LI bridge.
Most come from other states
Most come from other states due to the fact that other states dont have the resources we offer to help addicts. Then when they leave treatment or relapse they end up on streets.
True
They come from all over the east coast, even the from the west coast. But especially up and down the east coast.
Honestly; Massachusetts and specifically metro Boston is a magnet because of a booming economy and generous social services given to anyone who shows up on the doorstep.
Adam— have you stopped
Adam— have you stopped covering what’s happening here? (If I’m missing other posts of yours about this ongoing police action, please forgive me.)
Second, why do you feel it necessary to specify how many are from outside of Boston? Doesn’t that smug clarification suggest that those arrested deserve our judgement (like when you note that those arrested at parades/celebrations are not from Boston)?
Look at the home page
Just wrote a long piece about a meeting last night on the subject.
As to why I point out where people are from, yeah, I want to show that this is not just a Boston problem, that the problem extends way beyond our borders and that we really need a regional approach to the problem, and that Boston shouldn't be forced to shoulder a disproportionate share of the costs and problems just because we provide services that other communities either can't or won't.