Boston Blotter: Disconnected, Literally and Figuratively

Can you have a proper blotter if you can't report a crime? Yesterday afternoon, residents of East Boston lost 911 service briefly thanks to what the BPD described as "Verizon technical issues."

In this world of iPhones and camera phones and phones that could butter your bread, not being able to call 911 because of "technical issues" is unacceptable.

If you ever have 911 issues, the BPD website says you can call a BPD operator direct at 617-343-4911.

You might want to program that number into your phone, especially if you're female, working downtown, and carrying a purse. A recent mugging took place at Berkeley and St. James. Word has it that this creep has mugged several women over the past two weeks, and he's targeting women whose bags appear open.

The BPD also has problems of its own. One of their officers has been indicted for distributing steroids and worse: "The U.S. Attorney's office said 37-year-old Edgardo Rodriguez, of Hyde Park, is named in a six-count indictment that includes perjury before a federal grand jury." This is the fourth indictment in a wide-ranging corruption probe.

Commish Ed Davis said in a statement that Rodriguez has been suspended without pay. Davis also wedged in a hearty verbal finger-wag: "The Boston Police Department will not stand for anyone who does not uphold their oath of office." Rodriguez should see if there's an opening in Barry Bonds' entourage.

And the kids are still playing with guns. The BPD reports shots fired at 15 Ruggles Street. No one was seriously hurt, but the police apprehended a juvenile with a handgun.

Another 13-year-old kid got caught with a box cutter Wednesday in Needham. CBS4 says the kid was "involved in an assault." Whatever the kid did, it was enough to get him expelled.

But, wait, there's more teen crime. Bostonist considers hazing a crime, and students on the track team and one from the wrestling team at Whitman Hanson Regional High taped a freshman to a locker-room bench and kicked him in the groin. Don't you kids know you're supposed to wait until you pledge a fraternity to do that kind of stuff? Or, better yet, don't you know you shouldn't be doing that kind of stuff at all?

Finally, to prevent hypothermia-related death from showing up on the blotter, check up on your friends and neighbors to make sure they're not too cold, okay? (And that goes for Bostonist's coworkers who were walking to the coffeeshop without jackets – you people are insane and you should bundle up!)

Image from Flickr user mrbill. Someday, you can tell all those young whippersnappers about the days when you had to stand in one place to talk to somebody.