Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Who’s tougher crime fighter?

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That’s the quote from the Telegram & Gazatte where they reviewed Deval Patrick’s plan to Kerry Healey.

The attacks from Ms. Healey, he said, is an attempt “to change the subject” and distract from what he said are “failures by the administration in keeping our cities and towns safe.”

So let’s review their plans.

He (Patrick) is proposing an $80 million earmark for cities and towns he said would put 1,000 new police officers on the street, targeted to high crime areas. In addition, he is calling for a revitalization of community policing at the local level; restoration of drug and alcohol treatment programs in state prisons; creation of an anti-crime council in the governor’s office to coordinate crime investigations; and new interstate initiatives to stop the flow of illegal guns from out of state.

Kerry Healey doesn’t agree that this will help the continuing increase of crime that has happened under the Romney/Healey watch.

What’s the result of the police unions when seeing the results on Healey’s work and Deval Patrick’s plan?  Well, Deval is piling up endorsements.

Dozens of former state and federal prosecutors, five of the state’s county sheriffs, the popular Middlesex District Attorney Martha Coakley who is running for attorney general, the International Brotherhood of Corrections Officers and the umbrella organization of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers.

So what endorsements is Kerry getting?  Well, to be honest, not many.  The Springfield Police Union recently endorsed Patrick, and they haven’t endorsed a Democract in decades. 

Also, Janet Reno who added her support to Deval Patrick, has credited him with “one of the largest federal criminal investigations in U.S. history over the burning of scores of black churches throughout the South” in the mid-90’s.  It was actually the largest criminal investigation before 9/11.

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Comments

    • Healey “comes down on the side of the victim”. Every time. Doesn’t matter if it makes sense, is fair or reasonable. She doesn’t even care if it has the slightest possiblility of achieving the supposed result. Her only goal is to take credit for doing something. This is all she knows how to do as a politician. And it’s the easiest thing to do. As Lieutenant Governor, she has repeatedly not met her obligation to serve the best interests of the commonwealth as a whole. She is incompetent and needs to be held accountable now.

  2. johnk,

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    While I happen to agree with your conclusion, you made a one-sided argument.  All you said about Healey’s position was this:

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    “Kerry Healey doesn’t agree that this will help the continuing increase of crime that has happened under the Romney/Healey watch.”

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    I’d like to see that Reno endorsement trotted out into the public more often, but of course the police unions will support Patrick if they’ll see pay increases or more jobs.

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    Tell me more about Healey’s position.  This could be much stronger.

    • This is the problem, she doesn’t really state her position.  If you review Kerry Healey’s website and go to her issues list, you’ll see her 50 point plan for Massachusetts.  This is what you get on crime:

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    • Level 2 Sex Offenders – (Same position as Deval Patrick) Healey notes that she would like expand the list available on the web to post Level 2 Sex Offenders.  Currently only Level 3 Sex Offenders are listed.  All you get for Level 2 is the number in your town.

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    • Methamphetamine – Increase penalties for production and distribution.  The question is why Meth?  Is cocaine okay now, what about heroin, anything?  The DEA notes the following for Massachusetts:

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      Drug Situation: Cocaine and heroin continue to be the primary drugs of abuse in the state of Massachusetts as Colombian and Dominican traffickers dominate the distribution throughout the state. OxyContin® continues to be an extremely popular heroin substitute as well as its use in conjunction with MDMA.

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      Meth you ask?

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      Methamphetamine has a limited availability in Massachusetts and is transported into the area via express mail packages from California. Recent seizures reflect the availability of crystal methamphetamine. Methamphetamine is reportedly abused at “rave” parties by young adults between the ages of 18 to 25; however, individuals in their late 30s to early 40s also abuse it.

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    • Death Penalty – I’m not going there, I think we need another posting.

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    • Mandatory post release program, training, housing, drug treatment.  Again, similar in many respects to Deval Patrick’s position.

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    • Special Police to work with school administration on troubled schools.  – Don’t we already have this?  There are already police crime prevention units that work with schools.

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      That’s it folks, that’s her crime plan.  The question you need to ask is how is this going to stop the rising tide of violent crime and murders in Massachusetts. From Deval’s web site:

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      Homicides in Boston hit a ten-year high last year.  Shootings in Boston for the first half of 2006 are up 75% compared to the same period in 2005, and murders are up 32%.  From 2004 to 2005, murders in Boston rose almost 20% and violent crime rose more than 8%.

      The surge is not unique to Boston.  Shootings have doubled in Worcester from 2001 to 2005.  From 2004 to 2005, robberies increased 26% in Lowell and 14% in Springfield.  Across the state, with police departments suffering from severe budget cuts, and crime reduction and violence prevention programs in decline, crime is increasing in many Massachusetts neighborhoods.

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      It does not do anything to address the issues of Massachusetts.  Do you feel comfortable this crime plan.  Now consider that she is part of the administration that caused these issues in the first place.

    • But that’s none of the Governor’s business, collective bargaining is done by the municipality.  Shame on the city councillors that let that one through… it’s tough though, the unions are relentless.  All you need is one year where the city councillors aren’t on the ball, maybe a couple morons get elected and promptly booted out, the union lawyers will get all kinds of stuff into their contract.

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      But yeah neither Patrick nor Healey will do anything about that.

    • Actually, that sick time thing is a bit of a red herring.

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      The SPD does get 60 annual sick days, but they don’t roll over at all — the way that other forces do.

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      So what’s worse — 15 sick days (like most other forces) that you can cash out when you retire, or 60 sick days with no carryover?

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      The devil would be in the details, in other words, how many days are people taking, and whether there is policy in place to limit only people who need 60 days from taking them. From what I’ve heard, it is closely monitored.

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      I will admit that it looks bad though, even though it probably saves the city money.

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      I’ve worked for companies that have a defined number (5) of sick days. People treated them as entitlements, and they took them as much as they could. I now work for a company that has no limit on sick days. People, from what I see, do NOT abuse this, because it’s no longer a concrete number of days you’re entitled to. And I’m sure that if I took a week off work with no excuse, someone would come down on me pretty fast.

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