I nearly choked on my Cheerios when I read this story in today’s Globe.
After months of tension between state and Boston police, Suffolk District Attorney Daniel F. Conley said yesterday he has placed State Police in charge of investigating all homicides on MBTA buses, trains, stations, and platforms. In a move that infuriated Boston police detectives, Conley has also reasserted State Police jurisdiction over areas such as Carson and Revere beaches that had been disputed by city and state investigators in the past.
Hey, you know what might really solve the crime problem in Boston? More turf battles between agencies that are supposed to be doing something about crime, but are more worried about making sure that everyone knows who’s more important! Yeah, that’s the ticket!
This all harkens back to BPD Commissioner Ed Davis’s shake-up a few weeks ago — which infuriated DA Conley so much that he actually went public about it. Now, perhaps it would have been better form for Davis to consult with Conley before the reshuffle. But for God’s sake, can’t someone be a grown-up here?
Conley said he did not consult the Executive Office of Public Safety or Davis before making the decision. “This decision is mine to make,” he said. “I made it after great reflection and discussion with my senior staff.”
Real mature. Oh, but in case you were wondering, this power-grab by Conley has nothing whatsoever to do with payback for what Davis did. Nothing. It’s completely based on the merits, and the fact that it follows on the heels of Davis’s move, which royally pissed off Conley, is a total coincidence.
“I’ve been thinking about this long before the commissioner and I disagreed,” Conley said. “To suggest this is in any way retributive is completely off base. This is a decision that I’ve made to bring additional resources, investigative resources, into the city of Boston and nothing more than that.”
You know what, DA Dan? I don’t believe you.
The police detectives are furious about this. (“Playing politics with it is just despicable. Me and my people are not going to sit for this. It’s a disgrace if that’s what he’s done.”) Commissioner Davis can’t be too psyched either, though he’s holding his fire so far. Someone has got to step in and make these guys work it out. The Governor? The Mayor? The Attorney General? I don’t know, but someone has to do it.
Meanwhile, here’s what I’d like to see. I’d like to see DA Conley explain to these kids — who hand-delivered a letter and survey to Governor Patrick yesterday in which they and their friends express their concerns about violence in their neighborhoods — why bullsh*t turf battles like the one that’s obviously going on right now are going to help them feel safe in their homes. That’s what I’d really like.
He's not a bad guy.
Here’s Conley’s spokesman:
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Ah. But, as we know, Conley did not bother to consult with the Boston detectives, or with Commissioner Davis, their boss, about the alleged burden on these detectives. And the detectives are, as previously noted, furious about this.
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Don’t insult our intelligence, Conley. You want to escalate a turf war, knock yourself out. But don’t pretend you’re doing it for the good of a detective squad that you didn’t consult in advance, and that is really angry about this move.
Does the Suffolk County D.A. command the Massachusetts State Police? I thought they were employed by the state Department of Public Safety, and had their own command structure.
Does this also include MBTA Stations outside of Suffolk Counth?
to which I don’t know the answer. As I understand it, the Suffolk DA has some rather arcane and surprising powers that are conferred upon him by ancient statutes that aren’t invoked very often any more. Conley has decided to flex those old muscles to see if they still work.
Showing the state’s distinguished crime fighter on learning that a bureaucratic decision has gone against him:
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Kind of cute, actually.
That having been said, take a look at Weld's Gubernatorial portrait in that picture. Is he… leaning up against a tree?
Who painted that? His mother?
That was the beauty of Weld. He marched to the beat of his own drummer.
he had a pipcture that reflected the dignity of the office. That looks like a high school senior portrait gone awry. It's embarrassing. And so is a grown man using the phrase “tree hugger.”
“Tree Hugger” is acceptable usage as far as I'm concerned. I'll stop using Tree Hugger when raj stops using “pResident”. It seems as the environmental movement now wears the “Tree Hugger” label as a badge see TreeHugger.com.
PS lighten up
…I’m going to continue using “pResident” and “GWBush malAdministration.” The latter have historical connotations. The first refers to how GWBush was selected by the US Supreme Court in 2000. The second refers to how badly the Bushies have done in their malAdministration.
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But I’m sure that you knew that.
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As far as I’m concerned, Americans can cut down all the trees in the states. That would result in a net reduction in water vapor expiration, and water vapor is the primary greenhouse gas. Cutting down all of the trees would make it easier for us to get satellite radio and TV when we’re in our hovel in the US–the leaves block the microwave signals.
…this is little more than a battle over budget. The state police will get a slight increase because of their increased responsibility. The city police might see a slight decrease.
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I’ll return to one of my favorite themes: follow the money.
it would be better if it were about money, IMHO. At least that has some connection to reality. I don’t see this as being about anything more than Conley’s bruised ego.
…I know nothing about Conley other than what I’ve read here.
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I presume that he’s a district attorney. If so, I would be surprised that he could determine jurisdiction of the various police departments over investigating crimes. Hence my “follow the money” comment.