On Blue Mass. Group, David rounds up the news about DA Conley, Boston Police and MBTA murder investigations (such as the fact Conley made his decision to shift these rare investigations to State Police without ever talking to the head of the State Police). It'd all be pretty funny if it didn't involve serious crime (like: how is shifting investigations of one or two murder cases a year to State Police really going to help solve Boston PD manpower issues?).

But it all brings up another question: Why do we have an MBTA police department? Today's Globe story on the imbroglio has a quote from an MBTA mouthpiece that the whole thing makes no difference to his force; just means they'll have another department to hand investigations over to.

Sure, the MBTA's jurisdiction extends beyond Boston's borders. But how many crimes on MBTA property also extend into multiple jurisdictions? If we can get rid of the MDC, Capitol and Boston Municipal police forces without the world coming to an end (and if New York can merge its city and transit police forces), why not merge the T force with Boston's and give jurisdiction of non-Boston stations to the cities and towns they're in? I'm betting these stats will show the bulk of MBTA crime happens within Boston, anyway (after work, I'll take a look).

The Herald reports Suffolk County DA Dan Conley has shifted investigations of homicides on MBTA property from Boston Police to State Police.

Earlier:
Just what we need: A pissing match over homicide investigations.

A woman gunned down over the weekend was not a witness in a murder case, the Globe quotes DA Dan Conley as saying.

The Herald quoted police sources on Sunday that Danielle Grady had witnessed a murder about a year ago - and that the suspect in that case was due to go on trial soon. Tom Menino repeated the contention on NECN on Sunday. Conley says it's just not true.

According to the Globe, Grady's boyfriend was Jeffrey Jones of Mattapan. Jones was cut down in a hail of bullets along with longtime reputed gangbanger Jarrid Campbell of Roxbury last month.

It's Suffolk DA Dan Conley vs. Police Commissioner Ed Davis over who gets to head up homicide investigations in Boston.

Editor's note: In June, Universal Hub readers selected selected five questions for Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. Here is his answer to one of them:

Editor's note: In June, Universal Hub readers selected selected five questions for Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. Here is his answer to one of them:

Editor's note: In June, Universal Hub readers selected selected five questions for Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. Here is his answer to one of them:

Editor's note: In June, Universal Hub readers selected selected five questions for Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. Here is his answer to one of them:

The murder acquittal rate seems to be going up in Suffolk County. You've been critical of juries in some murder cases that have voted to acquit, but is the fault with the juries or the evidence presented to them?

Editor's note: In June, Universal Hub readers selected selected five questions for Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley. Here is his answer to one of them:

What do you feel is the major reason behind the increase of this city's homicide rate?

David Bernstein suggests it's payback time for the boys in blue as Wilkerson faces a tough election:

... Most of what you see about Wilkerson in the papers is leaked from within the BPD. The Boston Police Patrolmen's Association and the Boston Police Detectives Benevolent Society have long despised Wilkerson, in large part because she has periodically advocated on behalf of those claiming to have been wronged by police. ...

Then again, it's not as if Wilkerson, facing a tough challenge mainly because she forgot to file enough signatures on time, hasn't managed to get herself in lots of trouble without the help of the Boston police.

Ernie on Blue Mass Group considers the role of DA Dan Conley in all this and says any leaking campaign could backfire:

... One of the biggest issues in urban crime fighting is trust of police officers. People in the "community' see dishonest cops all the time. The see abusive cops all the time. Many have experience with cops lying under oath. Many white decent middle class suburban people have had the occasion to experience a police lying about something they did. You can't do anything about that.

Now Dan Conley is saying, if you ever testify differently that that of a Boston Police officer then I will go after you. Nice warm and fuzzy feeling when you see something go down.

Dianne Wilkerson will be singing this to the community. A community that has life experiences making this a reasonable assumption. ...