"Boston’s mounted police might ride again" by Jon Chesto Globe Staff August 18, 2016
Since the Boston Police disbanded its mounted unit in 2009, sporadic efforts to bring back the horses haven’t gone far.
Now, business leaders are working to help raise the $1 million to $1.5 million needed to get officers back in the saddle, patrolling parks and parades.
“I remember back when we were doing away with [the mounted unit]. I had more calls with people expressing sorrow,” Police Commissioner William Evans said. “People hated to see them go. It’s an important part of us being out there, being visible.”
When car magnate Herb Chambers asked Evans during a lunch in May what he could do to help the department, Evans suggested reviving the dismantled mounted unit.
“The commissioner mentioned that they were trying to bring back the horses,” said Chambers, who is willing to donate $100,000. “I think there are enough people that have pride in the city that would like to be involved in that.”
Why not? Ignore the rising homeless or lead in water, etc. Let's make sure the privileged elite have the thin blue line mounted on horseback.
Plans to restore the mounted unit, once the oldest in the country, are in their infancy. Evans said four to six horses would be needed, at least to get started, and officers would have to be trained to patrol on horseback. He doesn’t know exactly what it would cost, but business leaders involved in the project have pegged the startup cost at as much as $1.5 million.
The mounted unit, which dates to 1873, helped control crowds during big sports celebrations and secured tough-to-patrol areas like the parks along the Fens. But the unit, with its dozen horses, was disbanded under former mayor Thomas Menino in 2009 to save $600,000 a year during tough budgetary times.
However, the city still has a mounted park ranger program that has seven horses, at an annual cost of about $11,000 a horse, and six rangers certified to ride them, a parks and recreation department spokesman said.
Stephen Murphy tried unsuccessfully to revive the mounted police patrols when he was on Boston’s city council. And Mayor Martin J. Walsh, soon after he took office in 2014, signaled that he was eager to see police on horseback again. But his top police officers, led by Evans, have had more urgent issues.
Now, Evans is hopeful that a combination of corporate support and city funding will be enough to restore the mounted unit. Besides helping with crowd control, police on horseback can be good for public relations, allowing officers to interact with parents and children in a nonconfrontational way, he said.
And the ma$k comes off. It is truly a corporate government, and truly fa$ci$t.
Evans still needs to make a formal pitch to the Boston Police Foundation, which raises money for police programs and equipment that the city can’t afford on its own. Dick Parry, the foundation’s chairman, said his group can’t promise any sort of advertising for the donors, such as corporate logos on the horses, although the foundation would acknowledge the support through its marketing materials and at its annual gala, but Boston police officials left open the possibility that donors could name the horses.
I think politicians should have corporate stickers based on campaign contributions like racing cars are peppered with advertisers.
Parry, who also is chief security officer at Hologic Inc. in Marlborough, said discussions between the police department and the foundation about reviving the horse program have begun, but his group has not yet received a financial request. There are still questions that need to be answered, he said, such as where the horses would be stabled.
Foundation board members George Regan, who owns a Boston public relations firm, and Sean McGrath are drumming up support. McGrath, president of Natick real estate development firm Stonegate Group, secured a $100,000 commitment through his family’s foundation, the Highland Street Foundation. That should be enough to pay for one horse and related equipment, he said.
“I’m very encouraged with the direction it’s going,” McGrath said of efforts to line up verbal commitments. “They may have funding for half of what they need.”
Bill Richey, owner of training firm National Mounted Police Services Inc., said he wasn’t surprised to learn that Boston wants to bring back its mounted police, as other cities have. A 10-foot-high police officer on a horse simply can see more and be seen by more people than an officer on foot, he said.
Jim Bueermann, president of the Police Foundation in Washington, said he doesn’t know of research that shows how effective mounted patrols have been in the United States. He said Boston officials should consider why they want the mounted unit to return and how well they’ve been able to make do without it.
If the goal is largely community relations, for example, then maybe replicating the police department’s ice cream truck might be more cost effective, he said.
“Would it go further to buy more ice cream trucks in the summer, and hot cocoa trucks in the winter?” Bueermann said.
They need to “justify the expense.”
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Related: Are Boston police as enlightened as we thought?
Apparently not.
Why police killings require independent reviews
Ex-N.H. trooper to plead guilty in chase beating
Former N.H. state trooper pleads guilty in beating of suspect
Group files civil rights complaint with the MBTA alleging black teen was racially profiled
Governor, police chiefs, pols attend ADL event
Diverse group of Boston officers chosen to wear body cameras
Boston police union challenges body camera program
Evans, police union president may testify in camera lawsuit
Union obstacles make Boston slow to adopt police change
Judge grants police commissioner authority for 100 body cameras
Do police body cameras really work?
They lead to more killings, not less!
Police body cameras and the community
"Officers act as ‘guardians’ on the city’s streets" by Evan Allen Globe Staff August 31, 2016
The shirtless man swayed in the evening heat. No, he told the two police officers and mental health counselor who stood with him in the back lot of the Smokehouse in Mattapan, he did not need a ride to a homeless shelter. No, no detox. Two cans of Busch beer sat on the concrete loading dock behind him.
“There’s nothing you can do for me,” Edward said slowly. But his visitors weren’t leaving.
When Officers Michael Sullivan and Jeff Driscoll and senior crisis clinician Ben Linsky head out on their beat in Mattapan, they seek out the most vulnerable citizens: the drug-addicted, the homeless, and the mentally ill. Theirs is the only unit of its kind in the city, and its mission since it was started in February is to help, not arrest, people like Edward.
Then why are they looking the other way?
It’s part of a broader effort in the Police Department to work with the community. Police Commissioner William B. Evans has directed his officers to act as “guardians,” not “warriors,” and has pointed with pride to a 10 percent drop citywide in arrests this year.
Crime statistics suggest the approach is having an impact. As of Aug. 28, major crimes had dropped 6 percent this year compared with the same period last year, according to police statistics. Homicides were up from 23 to 24, but shootings across the city were down from 170 to 143. The city had 50 shootings in the often-violent months of July and August this year, compared with 72 in the same period last year....
Yup, they are a role model for the entire world.
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Also see:
"Neither the Boston Police Department, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, nor the Massachusetts chapter of the Fraternal Order of Police responded to requests for comment about the Safecaster app. Selkoe said Safecaster has other uses — his wife activates it when walking home at night. But his main goal is for Safecaster to help keep the peace between police and the public....."
Policing is now social work.
"Prosecutors want more restrictions on trooper charged with rape" by Nestor Ramos Globe Staff August 23, 2016
A State Police trooper awaiting trial on rape and assault charges allegedly boasted about his GPS ankle bracelet and sent texts threatening to “bury” the former girlfriend — also a state trooper — who had come forward against him, prosecutors say.
Now, prosecutors are asking for severe restrictions on Robert Sundberg’s continued release, according to court documents unsealed Monday — documents that allege a pattern of violence and erratic behavior in recent years.
Although other troopers have defended Sundberg, prosecutors say his actions since making bail on the two initial charges in April cast doubt on whether his continued freedom is safe for his former girlfriend or the public.....
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Related:
"A Boston district fire chief accused of assault and lewd conduct in front of a woman has retired rather than possibly face departmental charges. Paul Hutchinson, a 54-year-old Westwood resident and a 29-year veteran of the department, pleaded guilty to charges that last year he exposed himself and masturbated in the passenger seat of a car while the woman — seated in the driver’s seat — watched in horror...."
Just another face in the crowd.
Family of woman who fell from a party bus calls for answers
A lingerie party on a bus?
Convicted rapist arrested after woman in South End is assaulted
$500,000 bail for rapist accused in South End assault
Leslie Jones’ website reportedly hacked to show nude photos
Homeland Security investigating Leslie Jones hack
Woman, dog injured in Dorchester shooting
"An Everett police officer accused of assaulting his pregnant wife was released Thursday provided he accept certain restrictions, including GPS monitoring and staying at least 200 feet away from their home, prosecutors said. Michael Mori, who is accused of striking his pregnant wife’s face and kicking her in the stomach Sunday night in their Salisbury home, was released after posting $100 once he submitted to the conditions, according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, a spokeswoman for the Essex district attorney’s office. Mori is also not allowed to have face-to-face contact with his wife or children, Kimball-Monahan said. He is allowed electronic contact. Mori, who will stay with his aunt in Danvers, is not allowed to consume alcohol or other controlled substances, according to Kimball-Monahan. He is also not permitted to have firearms in his possession or in the home where he is staying. Mori has been placed on administrative leave from the Everett Police Department without pay."
"Bank robbery suspect arrested after Southie standoff" by Andy Rosen Globe Staff August 24, 2016
A Boston Police SWAT team arrested a suspected bank robber armed with a powerful rifle after a five-hour standoff in South Boston that ended early Wednesday, authorities said.
Stephen Gingras, 39, of Manchester, N.H., had been wanted on robbery charges in his home state when members of the Boston fugitive unit learned he could be in a home on Orton Marotta Way in South Boston about 9:15 p.m. Tuesday, police said. He was arrested at 2:40 a.m.
Gingras was arraigned in South Boston Municipal Court Wednesday as a fugitive from justice in New Hampshire and was held without bail on that charge, according to the Suffolk district attorney’s office.
He was additionally charged with unlawfully possessing a large capacity firearm, a Century Arms 7.62mm loaded with 30 rounds of ammunition.
He is due back in court on Aug. 30 in South Boston, the DA’s office said.
Police believed Gingras was armed and dangerous because he was carrying an “AK-47 style assault rifle” during the New Hampshire robbery, Boston police said.
He was also accused of an unarmed robbery Monday at a Bedford, Mass., bank, according to police there, who said they worked with authorities in Boston to make the arrest.
When the SWAT team moved to arrest him, he “attempted to jump out of a second-story window, then retreated inside and barricaded himself,” Boston police said in a news release.
Police said that during the incident, Gingras displayed the assault rifle. After several hours of negotiations, the SWAT team forced its way in and arrested Gingras, officials said. Police said they recovered the rifle.
Bedford police said the New Hampshire robbery happened in Salem last week. Salem police could not be reached to comment.
The robbery in Bedford took place at a Citizens Bank in a Stop and Shop on Great Road."
Had to call isn help from surrounding towns:
"A Quincy police lieutenant is accused of collecting double pay while working overlapping shifts and details, according to an indictment unsealed Monday, prosecutors said. An internal investigation by Quincy police revealed that 51-year-old Thomas Corliss had also fraudulently collected pay in 2015 while vacationing in the Bahamas and on Cape Cod, according to a statement from the office of US Attorney Carmen M. Ortiz. Prosecutors said Corliss defrauded the department of more than $10,000. Corliss was charged with 12 counts of mail fraud and one count of fraud involving federal funds, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said Corliss was released after appearing in court Monday."
Also see:
Pedestrian killed in hit-and-run in Milford
11-year-old boy shot in the face in Abington home
Boy’s accidental shooting shocks Abington
Despite more police, West Indian Day events marred by deaths
Burglar on the roof? Boston police pan man’s North End performance
Worries about militarizing police are misplaced
Any shooting is justified.
