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Police commissioner's son to seek treatment after OUI arrest

Boston Police Commissioner Ed Davis said today his son Phillip, 22, was arrested on an OUI charge in Plymouth, NH on Friday.

His arrest comes less than two weeks after he was driven home by a Boston cop after apparently coming out of the Garden possibly too drunk to drive his pickup home. Police brass are currently investigating that incident to see whether he got special treatment after telling an officer he was the commissioner's son.

The commissioner's statement:

Regrettably, my son Phillip informed me today that he was arrested Friday night (02-16-13) in Plymouth, New Hampshire for Operating Under the Influence. Like many families that struggle with substance abuse, we are reaching out to experts to get Phillip the help he needs.

Jane and I love our son very much and are relieved that he has decided to seek treatment. This sudden and public challenge is the most difficult issue we have dealt with as a family, but we pray that Phillip will persevere and overcome this setback. We are thankful that no one has been hurt in this situation.

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Comments

I hope that treatment works for young Davis, but if he is eventually charged and convicted in the Boston case and convicted in the NH case, a third OUI conviction in MA would be a felony with mandatory incarceration.

Since there is no more ten year limit on the so-called "lookback period" and out of state convictions are now counted, these charges will follow him for life. There are plenty of people out there who pled to a couple of OUI's in the 60's and 70's when it was a $50 fine, now they pick up a third in 2013 and they are facing a felony charge and state prison time. Quite a long row to hoe for a 22 year-old.

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before we start extrapolating what will happen if he's convicted a third time?

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Why?

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is not fruitful at this stage, I can't help you.

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Translation: I dunno!

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He's only been arrested once and if he takes a jury trial he probably has a good chance of beating the charge.

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with a bench trial, at least in Massachusetts.

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"Police brass are currently investigating that incident to see whether he got special treatment after telling an officer he was the commissioner's son."

If that investigation takes longer than 11 seconds, that doesn't say a lot about our investigators.

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If Menino or Davis were even half serious about transparency or even-handedness, they would not have the BPD investigating this, but would ask D.A. Conley to appoint a special prosecutor and put the TD Garden matter before the Grand Jury. The D.A. has several special prosecutors available for cases where a conflict of interest exists.

For starters, the original reporting person (witness) would be compelled, under oath, to tell the Grand Jury what exactly he observed, what opinion he formed on the sobriety of Davis and why he was so concerned that he notified police. The officer involved would also be forced to testify under oath as to his observations, conclusions, why he thought it was a good idea to prevent Davis from driving and transport him safely home. The officer would also be forced to reveal what superiors he contacted for guidance and what they told him to do. Then those superiors would be forced to testify under oath, up the chain of command. Video of the TD Garden beer stands and parking garage would be subpoeaned and shown to the jurors. TD Garden might even take a hit from the license board if the kid was overserved. It would take about a half-day for the Special Prosecutor to put the case together and present it. If they found mere probable cause, Davis would be indicted for OUI. What we in the business call a ground ball case. Of course it will never happen.

This case also reveals the pathetic state of the Boston media and their love affair with Menino. We have almost no info on either case other than sympathetic BPD press releases. No enterprise or investigative reporting on how drunk the kid was in Boston or NH, his demeanor, whether superiors intervened, whether Conley will convene (or the Globe/Herald editorial boards will demand) a grand jury. Whether two incidents in two weeks were really a "sudden challenge" or if young Davis has had other breaks. Not even a mugshot of the kid. The media also has neglected to tell us who the officer involved is? A Davis pal? Someone on the promotional list for Detective, Sergeant, Lieutenant or Captain where "Commissioner's Points" can propel or derail a career? Inexcusable lack of reporting.

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Ain't gonna happen, and wouldn't happen no matter who the suspect was.

And facts are facts. No field sobriety tests were given. Has there ever been an OUI conviction where there was no arrest, BAC, field sobriety, or refusal to do anything at the scene?

You can go after the officer or those who tried to cover this up (if there was a cover up), but trying to get a conviction for an OUI where there was no arrest, field sobriety test, BAC, etc is going to be almost impossible.

And you must admit O-FISH-L. If this was a troopers son, he would have most likely gotten the same treatment. It is the way things are done with the Boston Police.

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Times sure have changed. Long ago, police officers had a lot of discretion and would do stuff like this and would let people go with just a verbal warning. The police officer would sometimes help people go on their way, as was done here, allegedly. It was the way things were done back then. Or maybe it's still done now. Even for total strangers with no relationship to the police or to the commissioner. Just a thought.

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if a cop lets you go after you've been drinking with only a stern warning and orders to go right home he is responsible for anything that happens with you on the way home and beyond. you can go after a cop civilly and he could lose everything he's got in civil court.

i think boston cops are more hesitant to get involved than town cops or staties. they usually dont want to do the paperwork. growing up we used to joke that the only way to get a DUI from a boston cop was if you crashed...into him. even then if he knew your brother or went to school with you dad? you were walking home.

now brookline, newton, waltham and the staties were to be avoided. they pulled you over for anything.

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The most famous case that every cop knows about is the 1984 case in Ware, MA where a local cop let a suspected drunk driver go home after pulling him over. The drunk driver then proceded to crash head on into a fater and his daughter. The mother sued, getting a few million from the Town of Ware I believe.

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It made national news in an era when awareness of drunk driving was increasing. The town even tried to evade responsibility claiming the suit payout would cause the municipality to go bankrupt, as I recall.

Sad thing was that the guy was close enough to home that he could have walked ... but the cop was doing his buddy a favor.

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are very careful and strict. I know long time servers there, and they tell me management is obsessed with potential lawsuits. He's told me some crazy stories about pissed off customers who couldn't get their beer.

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The Menino culture infects everything....

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Wonder if he'll be charged with that as well. I seem to remember a Salem woman getting six months in jail for providing alcohol to minors.

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