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Bizarre standoff involving Braintree police and Boston cop
By adamg on Mon, 12/08/2008 - 11:57am
The Herald reports that when a Boston police captain bought six shopping carts full of toys to give to kids at Bromley-Heath, a Boston Police family-assistance unit wanted to make sure she was OK and not suffering emotional issues related to health problems. But when she didn't answer the door of her Braintree home, police called out a SWAT team and locked down the neighborhood.
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Way to go BPD. Another fine
Way to go BPD. Another fine job there Lou!
Seriously, Can the BPD do anything simple without overreacting? With no prior behavioral problems, why was this show of force necessary when they couldn't even determine if she was home at the time.
Also would it kill the Herald to say whether or not the poor woman was home?
The article leaves it completely up in the air if she was at home and refused to open the door, or if she wasn't home (which is probably what happened).
aqua teen hunger force
I think it a pretty safe bet that adult swim fans had a
good laugh over this.
Again.
I heard
All six carts were full of of these.
Well, I can't speak for all
Well, I can't speak for all the rest of them, but all it did was disappoint this one (again). I just hope Ms. Michalosky and her family are ok.
It's hard to make any judgement about whether this episode is the amazing overreaction it appears, as the Herald story is very short on details (was the online version edited down)? There's a slightly more fleshed-out account in the Patriot Ledger. That online story also has a couple paragraphs in the comment section from the freelance photographer that was on-scene. But even so, the real jist of the event remains unexplained.
What is nearly as troubling as the apparent police overreaction at the scene, is all the trash-talking between policemen from different jurisdictions who have been posting comments on the Herald and PL stories (even worse than the baloney that hits this forum after a story like this). I want to believe the best of the cops - I think most folks do. But even if the vast majority of the Commonwealth's officers of the peace are stand-up professionals, it seems like over the last few years the remaining fraction are determined to do whatever they can to make the public lose faith and respect for the police.
I noticed that too
In response to a news story about what seems like a turf war and an excess of testosterone, a bunch of cops with an excess of testosterone got into a turf war.
Look, if there are any cops reading this, please: I grew up in New York, back before Diallo and Louima, when we still called them New York's Finest. It's not that we don't appreciate the sacrifices you make, and the danger you put yourself in every day to protect us. It's just that if your approach to selfless bravery on Monday requires you to act like a newly-pubescent middle-schooler on Tuesday, you're DOING IT WRONG.
Flash
Looks like the freelance photographer mentioned in the Patriot Ledger piece shot the SWAT team repeatedly with flash after dark.
SWAT teams on the scene are in the same group as surgeons going into surgery, in that I want them to not be blinded. :)
Yup some of those are
really bad. Up that ISO, get faster lens!
Seriously, was this
Seriously, was this "freelancer" a trendy kid with a point and shoot Kodak?
Horrible composition, horrible settings from the looks of it, bad use of a flash.
Lest he got the "be there" part right... but who would want a copy of those prints!
Guess again
I looked the name up on Google to see if they had any professional work somewhere else...
LOL, what I found was hilarious. You should check out the guy's Facebook profile and I think you'll get a feel for who was behind the camera and why the pics came out so crappy.
I have absolutely NO idea why or how the Patriot Ledger decided to run those pics.
I haven't looked him up, but
I haven't looked him up, but if he's sincere, then kudos to the guy for being there, trying, and getting some images published. A lot of photography can be learned only by experience.
Just be conscientious about not interfering with the news or impeding police/emergency personnel.
Just to be clear
for anyone who does not look too closely later on:
the Ledger site has photos on this story by TWO photographers. The first name one sees is that of Amelia Kunhardt, who IS NOT the person whose photos are being questioned. She is a pro, judging by her site's other work.
Only one of the photos for this story is by her; the others are by another individual, and are the ones which the exhibit blown-out highlights due to over-use of flash or exposure/metering error.