It's official – police are now cracking down on the Common. The bullet in the State House, public OD's, and freaked-out tourists pushed the city brass over the edge, and the BPD is making a move. Now, the BPD will be enforcing curfew on the Common, which means people are required to "move on" from whatever legal or illegal activity they are up to at 11 pm.
Of course, that doesn't seem to solve anything that happens before 11 pm. On Wednesday, EMS workers had to pick up a guy who OD'd with a heroin needle still in his arm. All these reports make the Common sound like an open-air Den of Iniquity. It's not. It's like any other public gathering spot – you have the people who mind their business and you have the people who don't.
The people who mind their business include the homeless, who will suffer as a result of the curfew enforcement. As of December, Boston had 6,636 homeless residents. While we're all for police moving on trigger-happy boneheads, dealers, and people with their hands down their pants for all the wrong reasons, where are the homeless going to go?
One homeless man told WBZ: "We do not drink, we do not do drugs. If it's over the shooting the other night, the people who were shot were not even homeless." A homeless woman told the Globe, "If that bullet didn't hit the State House, but instead hit one of us, would anyone have cared? I don't think so." Sadly, she has a point.
The police probably recognize the homeless regulars on the Common. If they don't drink or make trouble, then let them rest and enjoy the last warm days before they really do need to go to a shelter because of the weather. The homeless aren't the problem, and they're being punished for other people's mistakes.
What do you think? Is the Common really that bad?
This grumpy old man was irresistible. Image from GTI.net – apparently it is really old, around 2000. If you've seen it before, let us know and we'll give proper credit or replace it if necessary.
*Yes, the Boston Magazine blog
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