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BU offers reward for info on gun-toting thuglets who keep holding up its students

Suspects.

Boston University is announcing a $10,000 reward for information leading to the conviction of the teens responsible for four armed holdups in Brookline near the Boston line over the past couple of weeks.

Based on police reports, there has been a pattern here. However, last night's robbery took place on our campus. This brings the problem home, and it dramatically elevates our concern for the safety of our community. While the police are doing an excellent job, it became clear to us that it was time for the institution to enhance its support of the investigation.

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Comments

If they can have sting operations for prostitution, why can't they do it for this case? I.e., have the police pose as college students.

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That purple drawstring bag? Boston Latin.

Maybe BU police would have more time to go after these muggers if they stopped wasting their time illegally ticketing cyclists on the BU bridge (they don't have Chapter 90 powers off-campus.)

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But the only reason the president got involved is because a bunch of helicopter parents went psycho in the comments of this article and started e-mailing him: http://www.bu.edu/today/2012/robbery-spree-continues/

My personal favorite comment, from NY Mom (clearly, Nassau or Westchester Counties):

This is horrifying. It seems as if the BU and Brookline police have lost all ability to keep our children safe. You need to get police on the streets, in daunting numbers, at all times of the day. Seeing “cops on the beat” could dissuade these punks from terrorizing, and potentially killing one of our children. And give you half a chance of catching them. You have a sacred trust – to care for our children – and I can’t tell you how I regret sending my child to your institution. I am rethinking that decision, and unless you regain control of the security of the West Campus, I will not be sending my child to you next year.

I live in the area and I want nothing more to know that the police are working on catching these brazen criminals. But if my mom had called me a child that many times in a row when I was 18-22, I would have "terrorized and potentially killed" her. (metaphorically)

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Holy crap at those comments, 99% of them are insane.

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The parents leaving those comments seem like the most out of touch human beings in existence. Have any of them ever even been near a city in their lives? The pearl clutching is beyond belief. Where do they live? On Mars? I am as outraged as anyone else about these robberies, and the little criminals must be apprehended immediately. But honestly, it's not the end of the world.

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I take it your not a parent sending a kid away to college. Look, having done this myself in the past couple of years, as a parent it is a life changing event. While we live close to the city, our families came from the city and are frequent visitors, my kid was not so unnerved. But, going through orientation, etc with other parents, I learn that most families are indeed from out of state, out of the country, etc... and yes, sending your child out on their own to live in a strange city can be unnerving, especially when you are hundreds, thousands of miles away. I am in no way a helicopter parent - ask my kid, but as a parent letting go for the first time only to read of the current events such as muggings and drownings when you are far away, well I guess you'll have to let me know how you handle it when your are one of those parents. I would venture to say, you may be a bit more concerned.

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It is the age when a person is supposedly fully legally responsible for themselves.

If your kid isn't ready for that by their 18th birthday, that isn't helicopter parenting it is NEGLIGENT parenting. That applies regardless of where you happen to live.

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in how you handle that concern. Calling and lecturing YOUR KID on how to be safe is reasonable. Haranguing the university president as part of a lynch mob is unreasonable.

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Do these parents realize that their children live in a city? Do they realize that Brookline and Boston are not DisneylandBU?

Hello, parents - the universities do not control the space outside of their borders.

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Boston University is in a CITY!!!

But ... but ... MY BABY!!!

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Posting online complaining that there have been a string of muggings involving guns is not helicopter parenting or hysterics.

Also: LOL at people making fun of "Westchester" parents:

Westchester includes New Rochelle, White Plains, Yonkers. White Plains used to have shootings every week at one of the malls; Yonkers had streets a friend who grew up there said he wouldn't walk down in the daytime, much less at night.

People have a right to get upset about crime, particularly something as frightening as a bunch of guys waving a gun in your face for your phone and wallet.

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In order to protect your precious college student living in a city that is not controlled by a university IS ridiculous.

Did they not visit before they sent the kids?

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"I will not be sending my child to you next year." Like a package in the mail...

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Finding this hook into the story.

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"police in daunting numbers"?

It's not her tax dollars that will be paying for them. As a Boston resident, I want these guys caught, but would rather see daunting numbers of police deal with other issues, like the violent crimes re: gangs/drugs in JP/Dot/Mattapan; and the sexual assaults along the SW Corridor; and the various men who wind up dead in the Charles/Harbor.

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blah, blah, blah, blah....this is what it all sounds like to the cops and BU administrators. In fact, this is what it sounds like to the thuglets,too.

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Are definitely students in the surrounding area, the first two have backpaks on. They look no older than 16! Maybe the third one is doing it because he was denied MassHealth, by the looks of it he should have early onset diabetes in a few years. The medication can cost a arm and a leg (no pun intended).

And in regards to the comment about "helicopter parents", ya nobody should be worried right! Finding a grad student in the Charles with a cinder block chain to him is no biggie, just worried parent with their kid in a city with rampant crime and murder. Pussy's!

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For a big city and metro area, Boston has got to rank overall as one of the safer U.S. cities. Ever spent time in our capital, Washington D.C.? Baltimore? Philly? I have. THEY have rampant violent crime far worse than the Boston area. Baltimore, roughly the same size as Boston, has already had 160 murders this year! And don't forget Detroit, Atlanta, Miami, St.Louis, Chicago, etc.,

Boston is a big city with it's share of big city crime, but it's not at the insane rate as the places I listed above.

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That's when I arrived, in Kenmore Square, from 3000 miles away. Boston and Kenmore Square had vastly more of a crime problem in those days than it has now.

I would happy bet that the things that went down in Kenmore Square then wouldn't make the papers, let alone be heard about by parents. Believe me - it was MUCH less of a tame place than even these armed robberies could compare to.

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I really think about it, most of these kids hang out after school in downtown crossing. CEX is well known for purchasing stolen electronics. You still have to show ID to sell something but these kid don't look to bright. Maybe the cops should pay the store a visit and look at camera footage on the same days of the robberies aprox. 30 min after they happened.

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and what's smack-dab in the middle of the robbery locations? The charter school.

P.S.- the pearl clutching line is hilarious.

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Brookline Police and BU are holding a "town hall" for students tonight and, based on tweets from the event, there are a couple of issues pressing on the minds of students:

1. Will the extra patrols also be cracking down on loud parties? Brookline police chief assured them no, that parties are handled by a different unit and the extra cops are there solely to catch the criminals.

2. Why are the cops and BU making such a big deal of the fact the suspects are black? BU officials say that while it's important to avoid racial prejudices, the fact is, the suspects' race, coupled with other information, could help catch them. They say they would have released the suspects' race if they were white or Hispanic.

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The cops hold a meeting to tell the kids what they are doing to catch these guys and what the students might do to help and they are met with "are you going to bust up my party?" "Why are you making a big deal of the suspects' race?"

I want someone to foward all of those tweets to the parents that were sending in all of those comments. They should know that their children share their concerns - for example, I'm sure that the pearl clutchers will also be outraged that the cops are talking about the race of the suspects. NOT!

As for the NY Mom, well, maybe when you don't send your kid to BU next year, you should send them to Columbia, NYU, American, Loyola (Baltimore), etc. Don't forget to write to let us know how the crime situation is around there.

Sheesh.

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Bull. Crap. BU isn't ponying up 10 grand because Barney Fife is effectively stopping this problem. I'm not 100% sure I blame the cops either. It takes balls to go after armed criminals.

Luckily, we have a segment of our population that embraces armed conflict. It's called the National Guard. Call them in already.

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Luckily, we have a segment of our population that embraces armed conflict. It's called the National Guard.

Me thinks that you aren't a member, or even know anyone who is a member.

I suspect that referring to the different police agencies involveed as "Barney Fife" indicates that perhaps you don't know many (or any) police either.

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Dont bother replying to that guy... He references a tv show in every post and clearly has a mental disorder. All of his posts are expensive unrealistic solutions for solving crime or other issues in Boston.

As for these kids getting robbed at bu... Who cares? I went to bu and the campus and surrounding areas are probably the safest urban environment ive ever been to. Brookline and bu police are everywhere. No one has been hurt and in my experience most bu kids are very rich and could use a reality check. I hope the kids get caught, but the people suggesting sting operations and sweePs of the area are out of touch and need to watch less television. Police work is extremely expensive and those tactics would be ineffective for something like this.

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...how about we stop devoting man-hours to staking out bars? Saw a cop parked across the street from an Allston bar for 20 minutes last night. If we have money for that, then the money exists to get cops to follow armed robbery suspects around.

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When the Brighton Ave. area gets dozens of emergency calls a night that needs a police response, you need a police officer there to respond to those emergency calls.

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They must be not more than 16-17 years old, to bad they keep adding to sterotypes. its not about black or white, just stupid dumb kids that deserve some time behind bars so they can feel the same fright that their victims did

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