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Former city councilor, West Roxbury native, 'devastated' by Blue Lives Matter rally
By adamg on Thu, 06/18/2020 - 1:20pm
Former at-large City Councilor and 2013 mayoral runner-up John Connolly shares his feelings on the Blue Lives Matter rally in front of the E-5 police station:
The ignorant, insensitive rally disrespects everyone, especially our black neighbors and neighbors of color in West Roxbury. That rally also undermines the idea of police professionalism and the reasons we call police officers "Boston's Finest".
There are so many cops in this neighborhood whom I like and respect, and consider friends. Some of you have known me since I was a kid. I grew up with many of you. I've coached and taught your children, and you've coached and taught mine. That's why it made me so upset to see many of you involved in such an insensitive stunt tonight.
The laws and policies of this country already protect police. Your job is extremely hard, and I am thankful you put your lives on the line to protect the peace. But you are entrusted with a great amount of power to do your job. So I expect more from you.
I know many police officers weren't involved in tonight's rally.
For those that were, it was a disturbing show of political power to protect the status quo. You should be decrying police brutality, and supporting common sense reform of our police departments. But you used your power in numbers tonight to define our neighborhood in a way that shows such tone deafness, such unawareness of Boston's history, and such a lack of empathy for black parents and parents of color who have to have "the talk" with their children that white parents never have to have.
You don't speak for me... and you don't speak for West Roxbury.
Neighborhoods:
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Comments
Totally agree. Kudos to John
Totally agree. Kudos to John for saying that for all to hear and read.
Still waiting
While this is a laudable comment from John Connolly, I am still waiting for him to apologize for the scummy "anonymous" postcards he sent attacking Stephen Murphy when they were running for City Council in 2007. https://shorturl.at/flUY5 He'd never get a vote from me until that happens.
John Connolly or Willie Gross for mayor
Willie in a landslide!
"Not all cops are bad"?
When self-professed "good cops" stand in solidarity behind bad cops, there are no good cops.
Most trained professions have pride in professional skill and competence.
But "blue pride" is a fraternal pride that values "defending our own" over protecting the citizens they are sworn (and paid by taxpayers) to protect.
Connolly's so-called "good cops" are corrupted by a bad culture.
Sounds like maybe John
Is considering throwing his hat in the ring against Mahty again.
Too many friends on the payroll
not to mention the original combination of unions, speculators and oxy-morons.
We can only hope
We can only hope
I don't think so
Wu and Campbell are heavily favored to run as progressives and Marty isn't losing the white Dot/WR hockey dad vote so what's JC's path to office? I'm not a Marty fan but he's risen to the occasional largely with covid19 which I think hugely helps him appear as a steady, competent leader.
Now if Biden takes Walsh to DC if he wins, then maybe Connolly gets back in?
$200k/year cop salary
The Globe has a story today of 12 cops' pay exceeding $300K per year and 100 total* cops earning over $200K - and we need to have a rally for these guys? Not to get all Howie Carr, but isn't a six figure paycheck enough?
$60K in OT is a nice pat on the back if you ask me. I wish I was "underappreciated" like that.
*EDIT - I want to amend that sentence to say "at least 100 total cops earning over $200K". The lowest BPD earner of the top 100 earned $264,000 in 2019.
Globe's Top 100
Just to clarify, the Globe listed BPD's top 100 highest paid. #100 is making $260,000/year. There are way more than 100 officers making over $200,000.
Join the academy and find out
Join the academy and find out.
Not everyone wants to steal
Not everyone wants to steal from taxpayers for a living.
You could pull over cars though Kinopio
Wouldn't you like that?
You’re cooked
No, those who do become politicians.
wrong side of the bell curve
Most UH readers are too smart to be admitted.
That is a lie.
Don't cite some silly CT study from 20 years ago either.
You got all Cs in high school?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w4XePPkTdCU
I agree with your comment,
I agree with your comment, but your numbers are off.
27 BPD cops earned over $300k last year.
531 of them earned more than the mayor's $199k
The average pay of a full time officer (excluding civilians and officers who left BPD during the course of the year) was over $166k. The Globe reported an average of $128k for BPD employees in an article yesterday, but this was diluted by the lower paid civilians and part-timers, such as say, a crossing guard supervisor who may earn $20k a year.
I got these numbers just by filtering the 2019 City of Boston employees data sheet with Excel (see link below for the raw data). If I get around to make my filtered sheet more presentable one of these days, I will post it.
https://data.boston.gov/dataset/employee-earnings-report
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/17/metro/amid-defunding-debate-bosto...
Like this was some secret
Everyone acting like they didn't know Democrat politicians are "pro working class" and that unequivocally means you must be pro union. Now they are shocked to learn that the unions have been bilking the city for decades? Maybe it should've been evident when the civilian flagger legislation was undermined by our asinine prevailing wage laws. But alas, it was not.
These same people don't understand the mountains of collective bargaining that will stifle the other social reforms they want to see in the country. Do you really think that something like single-payer healthcare will be possible when unions have spent (literally) person-centuries locking up favorable healthcare benefits for their members? Not. A. Chance.
Unions had their time. We now have laws that protect workers from many of the abuses of the past. Now they serve primarily as an edifice to subpar work at exorbitant prices.
Does that mean our laws are perfect? Hell no. But we'd be far better served to put laws in place for *all* workers, not just those aided by special interest unions.
Bingo
If you're a great electrician, why should you ever need help from the government? Everyone uses electricity except the Amish.
It votes third party or it gets the hose again.
Did Mrs. Henry's paper differentiate between mandatory
overtime, optional available overtime shifts and details? Required police staffing levels, sick, injury and leave considerations along with poor management compound costs. You need two officers plan for 10, just in case. The department burns people out and politicians act surprised when things go wrong but go full harrumph with the wind direction.
I am OK with Boston’s high police salaries.
For the most part, and not that there isn’t plenty of room to improve, we pay a lot and we expect a high standard of professionalism, which we generally get.
Please read the Globe article
Please read the Globe article linked below if you can access it, and then let's discuss how much "professionalism" and integrity we get from these $300k+ salaries.
I am also curious about what you think is a fair wage for the average BPD officer vs say, a quality preschool teacher or community college professor -not meant as a snarky question.
https://www.bostonglobe.com/2020/06/17/metro/amid-defunding-debate-bosto...
Payroll abuse
Professionalism?
The title of the Globe article is Boston’s highest-paid worker: a cop accused of payroll abuse in 2007.
It goes on to detail the city's second-highest paid employee, Lt John Danilecki:
Dude is called 'Pepper Jack" and the videos mentioned are easily searchable. There is also video on Twitter (behind a locked account) from the recent protests of Danilecki riding his bike up on retreating protesters, harassing them, and snatching a sign from a guy's hands and destroying it. If that is the professionalism that $350K/year buys, then we need to re-calibrate the meaning of "professional".
And going back to my original sentiment - isn't a high salary sufficient? Is there a need for a
Trump rally'Back the Blue' rally? According to their paychecks, they are backed. They make way more than you. We're good here.Hey F you and Connolly
So you believe your worth is measured in $$$. That being the case take out an insurance policy.
I think the protests were in
I think the protests were in the wrong Roxbury yesterday.
The Soros memo people
messed up because of Obama.
Vitally important political note
Please note that this is John Connolly writing, not John Tobin, who, while he also served on the city council and is also from West Roxbury, is an entirely different guy altogether.
404
Link doesn't work
Sorry
Try now.
Fair enuff
Fair enuff
freedom of speech
maybe the timing was poor but freedom of speech should be respected regardless if you agree with the cause or not.
show us
How is freedom of speech being infringed?
WHAT MORE DO THE COPS WANT!?!?!
Theyre heavily armed, protected legally and politically, and they have a goon squad union.
Fashy Blue Line stickers and/or Punisher logos abound and they (as weve recently learned) also enjoy free meals and coffee semi-regularly.
Yeah, the jobs tough. But if you can make 150+ thousand a year, kill with impunity, have a significant portion of the population bend their knee to you, and STILL wanna cry about it;
Perhaps you shouldn't be a cop.
Blue shirt not Blue life.
Blue shirt not Blue life. Where is the outrage from good cops regarding bad cops? They should be the angriest about police brutality incidents.
I think a lot of folks need
I think a lot of folks need to realize that being a police officer is not even in the top 10 most dangerous jobs in the US. Not only that, but police usually earn more money than any of those jobs:
https://www.cnbc.com/2019/12/27/the-10-most-dangerous-jobs-in-america-ac...
None of those jobs....
deal with people with guns and are ordered to disarm them.
Might not be "dangerous" but you still don't want to do it right? (I wouldn't want to work on a plane or be a roofer either FYI).
The point is a lot of people
The point is a lot of people are taking a lot more risk for a lot less money.
Thank your union
And I don’t mean that snarkily. 100 years ago, being a cop was a particularly bad job, with low pay, unsafe working conditions, bullying command structure, etc.
And they enjoy what they do?
Also those jobs pay more than cops in pretty much most of the country. I don’t want to be an oil digger ir a cop in East Prarie, North Dakota and I don’t want to be a logger or a cop in Fishface, Alaska.
the point is choice
Cops chose to "be blue", they need to take personal responsibility for that choice, be professionals, and stop acting like they're a protected class - even though in practice they absolutely are
Yea most do
You don’t know any.
where are they?
...
Where were they every time they witnessed brutality and did nothing about it? ...or joked about it? ...or rationalized it?
You watch too much tv.
Show me a Boston use of force complaint where something wasn’t reported.
You can’t because your just making stuff up.
Um.
So, uh, you want us to link you to a published report where no one reported anything?
This might... I mean, you’re gonna have to give us a few minutes on this one, while we track down where the goalposts went.
No show me anything .
Anything which shows something illegal happened and the Boston Police didn’t do anything about it, or an officer didn’t report it.
You can’t because you don’t know anything about it except for the things you can google. Your just “Eric G” the White dude from Connecticut who moved to JP and texts his black friend twice a year to stay woke.
You OK there, guy?
You seem a little tense. Triggered, even. It can't be good for you. Maybe you should look into a new line of work, where people won't call you mean names for enforcing state-sponsored white supremacy.
Also, while I'm flattered that you're keeping a dossier on me, I want to be real upfront: I like you, Pete, but I don't like you like THAT--I'm just not ready for anything serious right now, y'know? Plus the domestic violence stats for partners of LEOs make it a little too risky for me, but don't worry, we can still be UHub BFFs.
Lol
I’m just messing with ya. And I guessed that you were from CT and live in JP (and that you were white).
Please don’t tell me I’m that good at picking up social media clues like that.....
You aren’t really a white guy from CT who lives in JP with a black friend are ya?
You're being a fuckwit
Please stop. It's really embarrassing to watch.
It hurts because its true about you too?
Where are you from lbb? It would be nice to know more about your background and what you do.
Seriously, get help
You're acting like someone who needs meds to stay reasonably balanced and you haven't been getting them. If this is a shtick you're trying on to be cute or to communicate some idea, it's failing. Give it up.
It's ok to be from CT.
You are the one who is a failure though and you know it deep down. No medication here and none needed. If the internet bothers you that much, you should see your doctor and change your meds a little. It's ok, you can still post here and be woke if it really makes you feel better.
But seriously, where are you from? What part of Boston did you move to and why? (kind of stings though when you have to answer those questions truthfully and still pretend to be woke)
Yeah, you're disturbed
Get help.
City Councilor Andrea Campbell
Met with a group called "Fuck The Police" about defunding the police.
It must be something in the City Hall water, or just the usual posturing by politicians...its hard to say.
Maybe just trying to
Maybe just trying to understand the justifiable anger people have towards police. Makes sense.
Maybe
I think our Police are better trained than most, they are not perfect but meeting with a group called fuck the police isn't helpful.
I respectfully disagree.
I respectfully disagree.
Gross has a better perspective than you
Have you read what Gross said about his meeting with AG Barr today? Given what you've written about BPD I would think his words would carry weight with you and maybe you should consider what he said and apply it to politicians as well:
“As Police Commissioner, I often have to put my personal feelings aside,” Gross said in a statement Thursday afternoon. “The top law enforcement official in the country requested a meeting with the Boston Police Department and I would rather take the opportunity to educate someone on what we are doing in Boston on how we value and work with the community, and how we support our officers in this work, than close a door. A meeting does not mean I agree with his policies in any way, but I hope he walked away knowing a little more about ours.”
If the group exists?
If the group exists, don't you think it's prudent for a city councilor who represents them to meet with them and find out what their issues are? I mean, you were probably fine with Gross skinnin' and grinnin' with Barr, so...
skinnin' and grinnin' ?
Wow.
One is the Attorney general of the United States and the other is a group called Fuck the Police..
If a group called Fuck the Social workers or Fuck the Teachers put on a meeting ,do you think she would attend?
If Social Workers or Teachers
If Social Workers or Teachers got off from killing somebody I would attend. Don't dismiss someone's valid pain because they are angry.
The Boston Police is not an individual
If you think a group called fuck the police has any serious input, that's fine, I don't.
And Andrea Campbell can meet with any group she likes.
Who she chooses to take seriously says a lot about her.
Fuck the Police means exactly what it sounds like. Fuck the police, they are all no good. Its not helpful in my opinion.
But black people are being
But black people are being murdered by police. Black people are being singled out by police. Black people and white people are angry about the police brutality that is ongoing and not punished severe enough if punished at all. This is big. I think meeting with a group of people that have lost faith in the police force is a good thing.
Boston Police are murdering Black people?
Our Police could do with some reform like all agencies, A group called Fuck The Police doesn't seem like a serious place to waste ones time looking for reforms. I could be wrong.
A City councilor tweeting that Boston Police wearing "riot gear" is sending the wrong message doesn't seem serious as well, If a cop gets hit in the head with a bottle or brick I guess its "Fuck the Police"
It’s not just about Boston
It’s not just about Boston and I’m also not going to sit and explain to you every situation that I know of regarding police brutality in Boston. Do your own research, talk to black people, talk to white people who know black people or if you are black talk to the community. It’s bigger than what you know.
I dont need things explained to me
But thanks for the concern.
You said Cops are murdering Black people, the meeting she attended was in Boston she is A Boston City Councilor . If they are discussing another Cities police force I wasn't aware of that.
If you think it's not a big deal for a city Councilor to attend a meeting with a group called fuck the police ,
that's fine. I do and I would assume any of her constituents who work for the Boston Police do as well.
Many residents of Boston are
Many residents of Boston are upset with what is going on in their community and the rest of the US regarding police brutality and racism. I think that’s why she met with the group. My thoughts are maybe she’s trying to prevent other people from feeling like they’ve given up on the police force.
It's not difficult to figure out what she thinks
You just need to read her Tweets.
She isn't shy about saying what she believes.
Awesome reply
Perfectly worded response by John