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Citizen complaint of the day: When jurisdictions collide
By adamg on Tue, 08/02/2011 - 10:52am
A vigilant citizen reports somebody at Liberty Wharf is using the bike lane on Northern Avenue for valet parking, to which the city replies, oops, nothing we can do, that's Massport territory.
Earlier:
BPD wants authority to enforce the law on Massport land.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
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Comments
Then the city should call massport and have them ticket
The citizens connect app is real just an excuse generating machine. You can never actually get them to do anything. Why doesnt the city, instead of telling the person who reported this why they wont do anything, contact MassPort and make sure its enforced, while at the same time talking to the owners of Liberty Wharf (where Menino was in his jurisdiction to cut the ribbon and proclaim success) about not breaking the law by using bike lanes for parking. If that is too much, perhaps the city and state need to change the punishment to towing. That would solve the problem, since the police seem so disinterested in enforcing the law the tow companies do a much better job.
Actually, they do
At least according to the Mayor's Hotline folks. The difference is that once they pass the word along to Massport (or the MBTA or DCR or whoever), the complaint exits the city's tracking system, so there's no effective way to find out what actually happened (as opposed to a complaint for the city DPW, for example).
Excuse generating machine
I dunno - I'm kind of with anon here. I finally got a smartphone and have been making lots of graffiti reports, after having been told for years that the reason I can't get the city to do anything global about graffiti removal in my neighborhood is that I have to report every single individual instance, supported by photographs.
Now I've had cases marked closed because the defacement is stickers rather than actual written/painted graffiti, because graffiti reported are too physically close together and are therefore duplicate reports (even though the city is so single-minded regarding these reports that in one case a tagged sign was replaced by Public Works while the graffiti-covered pole that supported the sign was left untouched) and so on and so forth. They also seem to be altering the locations given in reports and then declaring that several different reports all refer to the same address and are therefore duplicates.
how the city responds to graffiti reports via Citizens Connect
Allstonian--
Thanks for using the app and for taking time to report graffiti in your neighborhood. I'm concerned to hear that you're not happy with the city's response. Do you have some specific case ID numbers or locations that you could provide? I'd be happy to see what's the issue. A few things to point out:
1. Graffiti reports are handled by multiple city agencies, but on the whole we're pretty responsive (usually within 20 days). Sometimes graffiti could be on a post office box (property of USPS, not City of Boston) or on private property (we have to work with private property owners to get it removed). Your issue could be with a particular department or non-city jurisdiction, but I'd need some information to tell.
2. Duplicates. I'm not exactly sure what you're experiencing with closing duplicate cases, but when you create a case for graffiti on the app, you're essentially creating a work order for someone to remove it. It could be that the work orders appear to similar and the department is simply saying that they've merged all the records into one work order. We'll usually tell you by providing you with the main case ID number.
3. Locations. There's no one "altering" locations to make them appear more similar in order to close out cases. However, we're fixing a technical integration issue that currently makes the location you report look slightly different on the app than the one workers see in our CRM application. Basically, we take the X/Y coordinates from your phone's Google map and match it with the city's master addressing database and it returns the nearest valid address. Sometimes they're off slightly, but it's usually close enough not to matter (especially if we have a photo). We're working to make this clearer to you and to make the location you report clearer to departments. I can assure you that it's nothing underhanded. We developed this app because we want to hear your reports!
Call anytime if you have questions. Thanks for using the app.
Justin Holmes
Director of Constituent Engagement
617-635-4500
Nice followup
Thank you Mr. Holmes, for not only responding so quickly and so coherently to Allstonian's post - but also for putting your own name and contact info out there. Accountability is a refreshing and admirable trait in a public servant (well - in anyone, quite frankly).
Allstonian, please call this fellow's bet and get him those case numbers!
Working on it
I'm working on it - I need to check some older report locations when I get home, and I will also have to spend a fair amount of time cross-referencing the 20+ reports that I've opened in the past two months against the "case resolved" replies.
I find it frustrating that, as usual, the city's response to my complaints is to tell me to put in a considerable amount of work doing documentation. What I've been begging for FOR YEARS NOW is for the imaginary "Graffiti Busters unit" to make a physical sweep down several key streets in my neighborhood, removing the hundreds and hundreds of tags and stickers and if necessary doing their own legwork on reporting graffiti that they cannot remove on their own.
Unfortunately, in spite of all the PR about the Graffiti Busters program, the reality is that tagged mailboxes can only be cleaned by the USPS, tags on private property require a signed liability waiver from building owners, graffiti on sidewalks must be removed by the Public Works department, graffiti on utility poles must be removed by the utility companies, stickers can't be reported as graffiti....and every single instance of graffiti and/or stickering (which isn't graffiti, even when it's a tag handwritten on a piece of adhesive paper) must be reported individually by a private citizen. Then maybe, just maybe, eventually it will be removed, provided it gets referred to the correct department.
Then again, there are the cases where a report remains open for several months and then is abruptly marked as closed without ever having been resolved, as has happened several times in the past. I've provided case numbers for Mr. Holmes before - see this earlier thread:
http://www.universalhub.com/2011/police-west-roxbu...
This time I will get in touch with Mr. Holmes directly, since he doesn't seem to follow up on what he posts here.
Thank you too Allstonian
It may not lessen your frustration, but I also want to thank you as a fellow citizen - for caring enough to keep pushing City Hall to do a better job at this - and giving them them the sort of data and feedback that leaves them no excuse not to.
If your efforts push them to improve their effective response even by a fraction, you'll have done more to improve the quality of life in this city than most people manage in a lifetime.
Look forward to talking with you
Before you do much work cross-referencing or documenting anything, feel free to give me a call. We don't like graffiti either, so our goal is the same. I'd like to improve the system if it's broken, but I'd especially like to make sure the right resources are responding to your graffiti problem.
617-635-4500
Following up
Just wanted to mention to all that I had a pleasant phone call with Mr. Holmes yesterday afternoon, and was able to go over several "problem" cases. He still can't explain quite how the app managed to re-assign one of my reports to a street address a full block away on a parallel street (and then wrapped two other reports into that same one as "duplicates.") However, he did re-open a couple of cases that had been incorrectly marked as closed - including a street sign that was unnecessarily replaced when my original report had been on the sign POST which was covered with stickers and graffiti - and generally reassured me that I should keep up the work at reporting graffiti and other problems in the neighborhood.
(He also mentioned that the public works department has revised a previous policy that tagging & stickers on street signs were considered acceptable as long as the sign remained legible, and is now officially taking a zero-tolerance stance.)
I still wish I didn't have to work so hard on my own to make sure that cases were resolved correctly - and I *really* wish the city would be a bit more proactive about the graffiti problem and just send out cleanup crews on a regular basis (even monthly or bi-monthly would help a lot) to go through the streets and remove stickers and tags, or report those on non-city property. Instead, everything has to be reported case-by-case, and only the graffiti that are reported are removed, even if there are other graffiti a foot or two away. Still, it's a start, and it's good to have a specific contact when things go wrong.
The citizen should also
The citizen should also follow up with the Mass State Police (911 on a cell phone), rather than leaving it to the City's hotline staff. Although the jurisdictional issue is annoying, there's no choice but to deal with it.
In my experience, the MSP are very responsive to citizen calls. Here in the Fenway, towing is enforced much more aggressively in State Police jurisdiction than it is in the city's. There's also the odd arrangement that, along the parkways, the troopers handle street matters (parking, collisions, vehicle break-ins), and the Boston cops take over at the curb. Of course, either/both will respond in an emergency.
That itself is a bullshit excuse
You don't just say, "Gee, I forwarded your request to the MBTA and now I have no clue."
Once you pass the request off to Massport or MBTA or whomever, you track it; you follow up; you find out what Massport or MBTA is going to do about it; you follow up to make sure they did it, and you report back.
That's the way grownups implement a ticket system; this is not rocket science.
Lithuanians
...know how to handle that crap.
Maybe the folks who took over
Maybe the folks who took over the Agassiz School could have done this while they were in town?
Whoh!
Now that is BADASS!
Too bad it's staged. The
Too bad it's staged. The mayor seems like a fun guy, though. And his English is probably easier to understand than Menino's. :-)
Of course it was staged
Although it leaves me wondering if we can talk Mike Dukakis into a tank for one last fruitful taxi-crushing and entitlement-smashing run through the streets.
Is it staged?
Is it staged? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IvGaSct3cJk The driver looks pretty surprised at the end of the video.
Regarding "The car is no longer king in Boston." Talk is cheap Mayor Menino. Put your armored vehicles where your mouth is :)
Video!
Yeah, I gave it its own post. Even if it is totally staged (I really doubt the owner of that car would be so nonchalant about it), who wouldn't love to drive the first tank?
Who painted the bike lane - Massport or Boston?
Whichever entity created the lane should be able to maintain it, which includes clearing anything from it that doesn't belong there. If a pothole develops there, who would be responsible for patching it?
More Shit You Would Never See in New York
The way the city cannot exercise its own authority over Massport and the State Police is pathetic.
Yes, perhaps because this is not New York
I don't understand your comment, Rob, other than as a venting exercise. Massport property is no more under under the City of Boston's jurisdiction than property in Hempstead or New Rochelle is under the City of New York's jurisdiction. Massport property is a state enclave that happens to be surrounded by the City of Boston (or several other municipalities around the Commonwealth depending on which Massport property you're talking about). It is similar in that respect to the Town of Brookline, which is surrounded on three sides by Boston, but over which Boston has absolutely no authority (excepting, for you very learned folk out there who know, for a very limited and reciprocal exception concerning police operating within 500 feet of the municipal line).
And does the City of New York exercise authority over the New York State Police? I think that Mr. Cuomo might object to that.
In any event, if someone informs Massport about this silliness, they will take care of it, since they are also the ultimate landlord (with several intermediaries) of whoever is doing this.
Massport property isn't part of Boston?
If I lived in an apartment, condo, or hotel on Massport property, are you saying that I would not be eligible to vote for mayor of Boston? Where would I vote if not at a Boston precinct? If I lived in Brookline I'd be voting for the Brookline selectmen and town meeting members.
It's a police turf battle
The legislature, in its infinite wisdom about 15 years ago, gave Massport police jurisdiction over all land under its control in Boston (while there are, apparently, Massport police, in practical terms, that means State Police, with whom Massport has a contract).
So, yes, somebody who lives in a hypothetical apartment building on Massport land would vote for mayor, but if they have a police emergency of some sort, they would have to rely on State Police, not Boston Police, to show up (in contrast, if they clutch their chest and collapse, a Boston ambulance would show up; if their apartment catches on fire, BFD would show up).
This even extends to the point where parking meters along Massport land (Northern Ave., I think) are maintained and emptied by Massport, not the city.
Basically, an agency that once contented itself with running a seaport and an airport is now in the real-estate business. And it's kind of stupid that Boston has these sort of jurisdictional issues, especially because State Police are really good at stuff like patrolling ports and terminals while Boston Police are really good at stuff like burglaries and domestic issues (i.e., the stuff you get when you start building residential and hotel complexes).
and parks
You might add that there's a similar thingummy with the DCR. For example, the always contentious bike/ped paths like Southwest Corridor fall under the law enforcement of the State Police, because the DCR is a state agency.
Thus, even the paths that abut the BPD HQ are a state thing. Boston police wave their hands about enforcement, unless someone calls in a violent crime. Amusingly enough, they're not hot on keeping BPD and cops' private cars off the ped and bike paths. I raised (heck) about them blocking the paths and mirabile dictu, the cars went away.
Sure enough, it's an it's-not-my-job thing.
Theoretical Question
If somebody, say, drove a tank over said valet parking vehicles or otherwise messed with them, would BPD respond? Or would they have to get special Massport cops to show up, and hope that they were the right microspecialty detachment?