A flurry of lawsuits is challenging the Trump administration’s “slash-and-burn” campaign, which axed hundreds of grant programs mid-stream. The White House is fundamentally misinterpreting a short phrase buried in recent regulation, the suits argue, to justify the sweeping cuts.
Criminal Justice
Posted inOpinion
Making war in US communities: Trump executive order on policing threatens to set public safety back decades
Trump is seeking to militarize the approach of the more than half a million sworn police officers charged with protecting and serving communities across the country.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Boston stays the course, despite Trump yanking violence prevention grants
While the city plans to deploy more than $5 million to youth public safety efforts, and the state funds a robust set of programs aimed at at-risk youth and violence prevention, the US Department of Justice under President Trump has concluded that such programs no longer further “program goals or agency priorities.”
Posted inCourts
Pay increase doesn’t undercut union retaliation claim in Newton, SJC rules
The Supreme Judicial Court decided against adopting a rule that would allow an employer to retaliate for union activity just because they met the terms of a collective bargaining agreement.
Posted inCourts
SJC upholds conviction of officer who used evidence room cash to pay mortgage
Against the backdrop of police reportedly availing themselves of forfeited money, the state’s highest court held that criminal penalties were fairly applied in a West Springfield police department case.
Posted inOpinion
Why police officers should get sabbaticals
If we take seriously the idea of sabbaticals as a valuable break from the demands of daily work life and a time to recharge before returning, rejuvenated, to that routine, there may be no group for whom the restorative power of a well-planned sabbatical makes more sense that police officers.
Posted inMedia
The top ten CommonWealth Beacon stories of 2024
ALL ROADS lead to home, or perhaps the nearest T station. Housing and transportation are both issues that roiled policymakers on and off Beacon Hill, as state officials sought to […]
Posted inCourts
SJC tosses warrantless secret video recording
Considering the case of a man secretly recorded by an officer’s cell phone without a warrant, the Supreme Judicial Court concluded that because Boston police made an illegal audio recording, the video captured alongside it should also be kept out of evidence under the wiretap statute.
Posted inOpinion
Trump’s mass deportation order would create a disaster for communities – and a crisis of legitimacy for local police
Trump’s promise to deport one million undocumented residents per year will compromise public safety and create a crisis of legitimacy for many municipal police departments in the Commonwealth and across the US.
Posted inPolitics
Attorney General Andrea Campbell gears up for Trump round two
ONE WEEK AFTER the 2024 presidential election results, Attorney General Andrea Campbell has a staggering legal to-do list. “I think there are many out there doing the blame game or […]
Posted inOpinion
New State Police head should prioritize higher ed for troopers
The reputation of the agency has been tarnished by the failings of some of its members. As you work to build a strong police force and restore public trust., I implore you to prioritize utilizing higher education as a means to help in accomplishing this goal.
Posted inOpinion
Should we impose a moratorium on new prison construction or expansions?
Advocates say a moratorium on prison construction makes sense because the state’s incarceration rate has dropped dramatically and most imprisonment is inherently dehumanizing, and too many criminal offenses are the result of race-based oppression. Opponents say we need updated prison facilities, even with fewer prisoners behind bars.
Posted inCriminal Justice
New State Police chief promises review of training death, mum on staffing changes
Noble said Friday he had not been officially briefed on the investigation into the recruit’s death yet, but that he is aware of the situation and a deeper briefing is shortly forthcoming.
Posted inState Government
Deputy sheriff breaks law, but comes out ahead financially
Floyd Teague, a deputy sheriff whose duties included holding public auctions of seized boats, cars, trucks, and homes, got caught illegally steering a modular home to his wife for $20,000. His wife then invested $45,000 in the property and sold it five months later for $309,900, a gain of nearly $245,000.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Putting police officers to the test
Enrique Zuniga, the executive director of the commission, said recurring physical and mental health testing is needed to make sure police officers are up to their job. But he said getting a testing regime in place will be a “big lift.” He is leaning toward making the periodic testing voluntary rather than mandatory.
Posted inOpinion
Trying to stem medical recidivism
There were more than 10 million people released from jails or houses of correction across the United States in 2019. Those first weeks and months are a particularly vulnerable time.
Posted inCriminal Justice
ShotSpotter honchos fire back
The ShotSpotter gun detection technology used in Boston and other cities has come under fire from critics who say it generates lots of false alerts and leads to harmful “over-policing” of minority neighborhoods. Company CEO Ralph Clark and board member William Bratton say the criticism is off the mark and call the system a vital tool that helps police track the prevalence and patterns of gun violence in communities.
Posted inOpinion
How AI could enhance policing
Artificial intelligence could be harnessed to analyze thousands of hours of police body cam recordings and provide valuable feedback on decision-making across the range of situations officers encounter each day.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Political Notebook: Never-ending State Police problems | Transit beer summit? | Ranking Boston’s choices
The woes of the Massachusetts State Police never seem to end, with the latest black eye coming at the high-profile murder trail of Karen Read, where a State Police investigator copped to making comments about the defendant that Gov. Maura Healey termed “disgusting.”
Posted inState Government
After years of scandals, have the State Police turned a corner?
Under the State House’s golden dome, there’s been little interest over the years among legislators to take stock of the theft of public funds and abuse of public trust, and whether the agency has been truly reformed.
Posted inCriminal Justice
ShotSpotter in the cross hairs
Police Commissioner Michael Cox faced tough questions at a City Council budget hearing about the city’s use of ShotSpotter, the brand name of the gun detection system the city has used since 2007.
Posted inOpinion
It’s past time to move Bridgewater State Hospital out of the Department of Correction
THE REPORT RELEASED in March condemning Bridgewater State Hospital —Massachusetts’s state psychiatric facility — felt more like a broken record than a revelation. The 87-page document outlined issues that have […]
Posted inCriminal Justice
Hayden says no charges will be filed in case of four frozen babies
All of the babies were full term, which means they were determined to be between 37 and 40 weeks of gestational age. All four had their umbilical cords attached and the two females had their placentas attached.
DNA tests concluded that the babies were full siblings.
Posted inCriminal Justice
Suffolk DA Hayden fined $5,000 for ethics violation from 2022 campaign
Suffolk DA Kevin improperly used his office to undercut his election opponent, Ricardo Arroyo, in the 2022 Democratic primary, the state Ethics Commission ruled.
