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Davis: We can do more to protect large public events, but not at cost of turning into a police state
By adamg on Thu, 05/09/2013 - 1:25pm
Police Commissioner Ed Davis testified before the House Committee on Homeland Security today. Among his conclusions:
In the future we will review the need to deploy more assets including technology, cameras, undercover officers and specialized units. We will continue to enhance preparedness training for all of our officers to protect these large events.
This need, however, must be balanced against the protection of our Constitutional liberties. I do not endorse actions that move Boston and our nation into a police state mentality, with surveillance cameras attached to every light pole in the city. We do not, and cannot live in a protective enclosure because of the actions of extremists who seek to disrupt our way of life.
My police career has been built on the concept of community policing that encourages our officers to get out of cars, talk with people and solve problems in partnership with the community. This absolutely works. The community played a critical role in this fight against terrorism. In Watertown, despite heavy police presence for more than 12 hours, and a house by house search in a twenty block perimeter for one of the two suspects, it was the critical observation of a neighbor that something was amiss in his backyard that led to the capture of one of the bombers. In Boston, it was the cooperation of the owners of the Forum Restaurant whose video cameras led to the identification of the two terrorists. It was the cooperation of the people of Boston, Watertown, and several other neighboring communities who voluntarily assisted our police departments by staying indoors during this protracted manhunt that led to the safe resolution of the capture.
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Comments
2nd quoted paragraph says it all
I hope Ed Davis runs for public office someday soon.
My dad went to high school
My dad went to high school with him and he's a friend of the family, he's wanted to be a cop since he was 16, following in the footsteps of his father. That's all he wants to do. He's been offered political positions since he was the chief in Lowell and he's refused every time. The man lives for police work and God bless him for it.
Agreed
I will vote this man into any public office he wants.
Well,
aside from this case, how does the crime rate in boston compare to before he was chief?
But he did turn Boston into a
But he did turn Boston into a police state for a few days
not really
the lock down on watertown was not for a few days, and was based on public safety as there was an immediate identified threat
The shelter-in-place came
The shelter-in-place came from MSP, not Boston. And it was one day.
Just be glad
Just be glad you have never actually lived in a police state (even for those few days).
It has given you the absolute lack of frame of reference to think what you said makes any sense at all.
For 20 blocks yes, but it's
For 20 blocks yes, but it's kind of special circumstance when you have two terrorists carjacking people, taking a hostage, throwing bombs, and shooting at police.
Do you even live in Boston? I
Do you even live in Boston? I do, and I can tell you that it was nothing remotely approaching a police state. Tracking and hunting a clear, defined public threat does not constitute running a police state.
and you define police state how?
asking people to stay inside, without any sort of threat of action if they don't obey, only for their own safety does not constitute a police state.
- wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Police_state
I disagree
I thought the response was excessive, and some of the choices were unnecessary (i.e. shutting down the entire T), but it did not turn Boston into a police state for even one day. That's simply incorrect.
I hope this means that he
I hope this means that he isn't going to turn into another Ray Kelly. The NYPD really is trying to implement a police state. Here's hoping we Bostonians have more sense than that.
Boston Police knew about tsarnaev two years ago
Ed Davis either doesn't know what's going on in his own department, or he lied, because the FBI says they told Boston PD via the Joint Task Force about Tsarnaev.
http://jamaicaplain.patch.com/articles/fbi-boston-...
So:
-They'd been told about him
-They pulled the bomb-sniffing dogs once the Elite runners (and the dignitaries) left
-They didn't identify the suspect (the guy whose legs were blown off did)
-They didn't capture them in the chase
-Their cordon was set too tightly
Name ONE THING law enforcement / Boston Police did right in this whole mess?
well not quite
what that article says is that the BPD has people who have access to a file on Tsarnaev. It also says that the BPD has people who had access to the people who did the investigation in 2011. That is not the same as being told about it. There are tons of files and names. If nobody says to you "we did this" or "you should check this out", then they were not told about it. Additionally, there are several databases and lists and other storage sites for this type of information. To say, well you had access therefore you knew is quite a stretch.
Your other criticisms are a bit weak as well. A witness identifying the suspect is not a bad thing. Remember the FBI was the lead on this, and they had the file and interviewed the guy. so why are you criticizing the BPD on this point?
BPD did capture one of the two suspects in the chase.
The cordon was realistic in size, and it is not like the kid turned up in Belmont. he was just outside of the zone.
Wait, he addressed Congress?
Why? He could have just stayed here and talked to a wall in his house. Same impact.
That's an indictment of Congress, not of Davis.