An important message from Local 718 - Boston's fiyahfightas.
Update, 12 p.m. Mass EMA reports continued sporadic problems with wireless 911 calls.
State Police report that a problem at a Louisiana-based data network that had knocked wireless 911 service off the air in Massachusetts and other states overnight has been fixed. CenturyLink first noticed the problem, which it described only in vague terms, yesterday afternoon.
The US Attorney's office today reported the eighth indictment of a trooper for allegedly filing for pay for overtime he didn't work.
WBUR reported that in the midst of an overtime scandal, State Police sought permission from the Secretary of State's office to destroy "more than 160 boxes of documents tracking payroll, detail assignments, attendance and personnel records - some dating back as far as 26 years."
Kevin Sweeney, 40, of Braintree, was charged today with one count of embezzlement from an agency receiving federal funds and one count of wire fraud in the widening State Police overtime investigation and agreed to plead guilty, the US Attorney's office in Boston reports. Read more.
State Police report the four were members of Troop E, which patrolled the turnpike.
The Supreme Judicial Court today dismissed the OUI case against a man who rolled his car over on a Rte. 3 ramp in Braintree in 2014 because State Police didn't issue him a citation until nine days later - a violation of a state law intended to fight ticket fixing. Read more.
WCVB reports the three troopers - two now retired - were assigned to Troop E on the turnpike, which State Police disbanded after the station reported on potential overtime abuse there. More to come after an 11 a.m. press conference by the US Attorney's office.
As it has done in years past, the Boston City Council voted today to formally ask the state Legislature to let Boston Police patrol the South Boston Waterfront. Although Boston officers respond there in emergencies, legally, State Police have jurisdiction. Read more.
The Globe reports the trooper who arrested that Randolph guy the other night - and yes, of course, there's now a question as to whether he was shot or got injured some other way - has a long history of spewing racial and other epithets on a police-oriented online forum. The Globe gives a taste of the comments by "Big Irish," many of which they don't quote verbatim because the Globe is still a family newspaper, but one of which he concludes:
Fuck the people of Mission Hill and Roxbury!! They don't give a rats ass about us!!
They say they'll use it to help investigate major motor-vehicle crashes.
State Police report a marked State Police cruiser at Commonwealth Avenue and Berkeley Street around 2:50 a.m.
The crash also caused two other vehicles to be struck, one of them parked, before the taxi fled the scene. The crash also caused damage to a light pole and fence.
There were no injuries, State Police say.
WBZ reports on the arrest this morning in Newton of the suspect in yesterday's State Police cruiser heist in South Boston.
WCVB reports a State Police cruiser stolen from a state lot on D Street South Boston this morning showed up, abandoned, around 12:45 p.m. at Twin City Plaza in Somerville.
On the Arlington List, a Facebook group for residents of that town, one resident reported an odd occurrence around noon: Read more.
State Police released photos of the patrol car a trooper was in on I-93 south early Saturday when, police say, another car plowed into it - along with a statement by State Police Col. Richard McKeon: Read more.
The City Council voted unanimously today to support this year's version of legislation that would give Boston Police joint jurisdiction over the streets of the South Boston waterfront, now legally under the purview of State Police. Read more.
The City Council approved a measure by at-large Councilor Steve Murphy to hold a hearing on a proposed state law that would let Boston police officers respond to calls in what has become one of Boston's fastest growing neighborhoods. H.2107, sponsored by state Rep. Nick Collins (D-South Boston), would give Boston Police joint jurisdiction in the area. Read more.
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