Results tagged “police”

Today is just full of sad stories. Nothing can compare to the infuriating batting practice debacle, but this story is sweetly sorrowful. A North Shore native who volunteered as a lighthouse keeper at Thacher Island had sent out a message in a champagne bottle every year since 1991. Once missive found its way to Marshfield, which is something—but, more excitingly, a French couple recently came upon a message sent back in 2003. The couple responded by sending a postcard to the address include in the bottle, but the postcard was returned--the sender of the missive died last year of complications from surgery. It's uplifting to think that your maritime message could be received, but sad to realize you might not be around to get the response.

shyto has our Wednesday PotD this week with an exceptionally strong black & white image. The detail in this image is amazing, you can feel the grain of the leather or the coolness of the steel just by looking at it. Composition is also solid and the image is sure to promote a reaction from the viewer.

Bostonist loves our Flickr photographers and we love freedom of speech. That's why we're always appalled when police hassle law abiding photographers while they exercise their First Amendment right to take photographs in public. That's what apparently happened last week.

• Layoffs are "mounting" in the horse and bike police forces. [Globe]
• A Wal-Mart shopper found teeth in a wallet he was about to purchase. Has the tooth fairy been getting a little confused? [WCVB]
• Mass. gets a $438 million stimulus. [Herald]

            

Controversial street artist Shepard Fairey may have been a notorious no-show at his own party last night at the ICA (he was busy getting arrested outside his hotel) but that didn't stop the already-assembled Friday night crowd from blissfully grinding the night away. DJ Z-Trip came to the revelers' rescue by spinning in Fairey's place, continuing what was supposed to be an opening set well into the wee hours. The crowd was a mix of street art devotees and hipsters looking to scope out the "Yes We Can!" singles scene. Fairey was indeed missed, but the revelers who packed into the sold-out the OBEY Experiment event didn't let a little Bo-Po busting bring them down. Below, the photographic proof. (Photos and text by Jenna Scherer.)

Today the Herald wrote about Taser use in Massachusetts, citing some scary statistics. According to the Herald, taser use in Massachusetts quadrupled from 2006 to 2007, when the weapons were used 200 times. Amnesty International reports that 320 people have died after being hit with Tasers since 2001, and also says the weapons are now being used to "get compliance" rather than avoid lethal force. Our Ist friends have covered traumatic Taser incidents in the past: Gothamist reported on a man who fell to his death after being Tasered (as well as the subsequent suicide of the cop who ordered the Taser use), LAist addressed the Tasering of a UCLA student who committed the vile crime of being in a library, Seattlest caught a cop accidentally using his gun instead of his Taser, and Chicaogist shared the CPD's use of force model after a man died following a Tasering. We hope the use of Tasers in Massachusetts and elsewhere can be reevaluated based on these disturbing findings, and that Taser training will be improved.

Overnight in West Roxbury, some drag racers got out of control and hit a 45-year-old woman at a crosswalk on Hyde Park Avenue and Eldridge.

Boston panhandlers proudly uphold the city's reputation for being as direct as possible--sometimes too direct and so direct that it merits a trip to jail. The Globe did a story on how the police have been dispersing the panhandlers and "squeegee men" at Mass Ave and Melnea Cass.

The recent spate of shootings in Boston has citizens nervous about safety, and none has shaken the community like the daylight killing of Luis Troncoso, a 20-year-old Dorchester father of two who was shot in the head while playing basketball in a quiet Jamaica Plain park.

Applications to the police academy will likely rise after the Globe reported today on the highest salaries from the city's payroll. Maybe Mayor Tom Menino, in his role as chief executive of the city government, can pull some strings and become a Boston police officer, who averaged $52,000 last year in overtime wages alone.

--Two people were killed in a brutal murder-suicide in New Bedford yesterday. A man stabbed a woman with a steak knife before stabbing himself to death. The man also went after the woman's roommates, stabbing one and biting another. [Boston Globe]

A New England Patriots fan told Joe Fitzgerald at the Herald that some overzealous Pats fans beat up him, his friend, and his cousins, who happened to be Jaguars fans and who were wearing Jaguar gear, after the Pats-Jaguars game.

4. Feel It Calling in the Air Tonight. A Phil Collins fan in the South End was really feeling the music. He could feel it, "calling in the air," so to speak, and he played it loud. Even worse, his neighbors told the BPD that it was "like this every night." He was arrested because he wasn't going to turn down that Phil Collins without a fight. Even though weirder crimes exist in this countdown, the original Oddblotter post prompted a lively conversation about whether or not Phil Collins is the "worst thing to happen to modern society."

Bostonist is looking back on the year in weird, silly, or just plain creative crimes. Yesterday, you met some pugnacious bowlers, but you haven't seen anything until you meet a certain postal employee, overeager college students, and an exceptionally creative gravedigger.

--In Lancaster, an 18-year-old died last night after her Jeep was hit by a tractor-trailer. WBZ reports that the driver of the tractor-trailer fled the scene of the accident. Here's the description of the tractor-trailer: "A light red tractor, towing a white trailer, equipped with many lights. Police think because of the crash, there could be damage to the driver side, most likely in the middle or the rear.

--We're not sure if this qualifies as Blotter or accident. Whatever it is, it's terrible. Police in Lawrence are trying to find out if a woman was killed by a snow plow. WBZ reports that two people found a body by the side of Route 114 on Sunday. The snow plow theory emerged because the body was near plowed snow. Police haven't found witnesses.

--Were there enough police out to handle traffic in the major intersections during Thursday's snowstorm? [Blue Mass Group]