Carpundit

Police Crash Fatality - Causes?

I don't know what caused a Beverly police officer's cruiser to demolish itself against a parked car on the wrong side of the road, killing a woman.  Inattention, overdriving, and mechanical failure are the top three candidates, I imagine.  But I know what it wasn't.

According to NECN's Sunday morning broadcast, some Beverly police officers are talking about a rash of unintended acceleration in their Ford Crown Victoria Police Interceptors, as if to suggest that the car may have decided to speed up on its own.

I appreciate closing ranks, guys, but it wasn't unintended acceleration.

It never is.

The Football Game's In Indianapolis, But Big Brother Is In Boston

Police patrols and numbers are being increased in Boston in case of rowdiness due to the playoff football game being held in the Midwest.  I'm not sure I see the sense in that.  I understand the mayor's concern, especially after the Snelgrove and Grabowski tragedies.  But some of this is going too far, I think:

"Area liquor stores must report to the city the name and address of  any individual buying a keg of beer."

"In addition, city bar and tavern owners have been told to just say no to television crews that want to broadcast from such establishments because such live shots only fuel rowdy behavior, said a stern-faced Mayor Thomas M. Menino."

I think that last one is probably unconstitutional, by the way.  And what's with the keg-reporting?  Is it just me, or is this a bit too much security for our own good?

Governor Patrick And the Illegals

Governor Patrick rescinded the nascent authority of state police to enforce immigration laws, while initiating a program to grant the authority to some state corrections officers.  It's a policy decision - one I disagree with.  I support the grant of authority to corrections officers; it makes sense and it's easy.

But it also makes sense to provide appropriate legal tools to the Troopers on the highway, who often encounter obvious illegal aliens engaged in criminal activity ranging from guns and drugs to simple motor vehicle crimes, such as improper registration and lack of insurance.  All these crimes bring a societal cost, and Troopers are often powerless to do any more than write a ticket.  A ticket that's often written to a false ID and handed to an illegal who will never be seen again.

It's not a surprise that he did this.  The Governor said he would, and he did.  (Which is more than we often get from politicians.)  But it's disheartening to see this first step in the new Dukakis era, where no one even pretends to be tough on crime and the taxes go up, and the welfare spending too, along with the crime rate.  The only rates that drop will be the rate of new business creation and the rate of population growth.

UPDATE: John Daley, whose opinion I respect, disagrees with me.  We have different experiences in policing, and that may account for it.   I think he's wrong.

"It's My Job"

Sometimes, being a hero is as simple as just doing your job.  Some men would have ducked this, but not Kevin Sullivan.

Fatal Route 93 Crash

No charges will be filed against the off-duty Boston police who was at the wheel in a fatal crash on I-93 in Boston last year.  When I last wrote about this, I recall comments accusing the state police of covering-up a crime to the benefit of the Boston officer.  I didn't see it then and I don't see it now.  From the Boston Globe:

A State Police reconstruction team found that Griffin hit Vibert as she was parked in the right lane around 2:20 a.m. on Aug. 12, not realizing in time that the vehicle was not moving.

Absent some evidence of intoxication or reckless driving, there's nothing to charge.  The crash victim was sitting in a car that was parked in the travel lane of an interstate highway in the dark of night.  No crime; just tragedy.

Lesson?  If your car breaks down on the road, get out of the car and get out of the road.

Spare Change Guy Among the Worst of Vagrants in Boston

There is nothing charming about Spare Change Guy, despite the tone of the recent publicity surrounding his arrest.  He is dirty, obnoxious, and a menace to public safety.  He obstructs traffic by begging in the middle of the road, interferes with people walking on the sidewalk by swinging his arms wildly around, and frightens people with his disturbed visage (here's a tame example) and confrontational manner.  Also, apparently he has no respect for authority.  I'm glad the police arrested him and I hope they keep it up.  What he needs is a nice little jail term.

Before he makes someone run him over and sues them for all they're worth.

Number One Least Effective Get-Out-Of-Jail-Free Phrase of All Time

This never works - never:  "Do you know who I am?"

Latest example here.

Why Massachusetts Needs the Death Penalty

Creatures like this need to be put down.

Cops In Bars

I am glad that the officers were not more seriously hurt, but does anyone really think it's a good idea to allow police officers to work details at strip clubs?  Or any bars at all, for that matter?  I think NYPD banned the practice.

Those clubs -all nightclubs, really- encourage a lifestyle of partying.  Partying attracts people involved with drugs, both users and sellers.  The establishment's owner is interested in keeping the customers happy, which means looking the other way on a certain amount of illegality, as long as it's non-violent.  The police on detail are paid by the owner, so they have to keep him happy.  In general, the set-up is designed to encourage officers to look the other way, at least, or support criminal activity, at worst.

And, no, I don't have all the facts of the New Bedford shooting and I'm not saying whether it was a net plus or net minus to have the detail officers at the club that night.  I'm discussing the larger issue only.

UPDATE: it appears the cops who were shot were first responders, not detail officers at the club.  This highlights the dangers of policing, of course, but does not undermine my thesis: cops shouldn't be in clubs.

Scotts Doesn't Like Smoking - But Poisoning the Groundwater is OK

The Boston Globe carries the story of a Cape Cod man fired by Scotts Lawn Care for smoking off the job; I have one comment on the story and one comment on the issue itself.

The story presents the matter as if it were one of first impression.  In fact, Massachusetts has a law on the books making it illegal for any police officer or firefighter to smoke, on or off the job.  The effective date of the law was January 1988, if memory serves, and it then forbade any smoking by anyone hired on or after that date as a police officer or firefighter.  The mandatory penalty is dismissal.  I recall at least one firing.  I do recognize the public sector / private sector distinction, but a thorough article would have mentioned the law.

As for the issue itself, I think Scotts, Inc. is being hypocritical.  Employees can't put poison in their own lungs.  This from a company whose entire business revolves around dumping chemicals on grass as far and wide as it can.