Monday, January 21, 2008

This Is Not Your Father's Roslindale

It seems my old Boston neighborhood of Roslindale is seeing more than its share of "excitement" these days. I'm so sorry I moved out.

Not.

First up, the story of a Boston police officer (20-year veteran) who decided to bring in a little money on the side by robbing a gas station in Roslindale at gunpoint, using his BPD-issued sidearm. His lawyer, needless to say, is taking the "he's under a lot of stress" route in his defense.

Get your scorecards ready. It will be interesting to see what punishment the Bay State Justice for Special People Handbook recommends, given that shooting a police officer at close range and driving away in a drunken stupor barely registers as a blip on the "Severity of Punishment" charts therein.

It wouldn't shock me, in the least, if this latest incident of "cop gone bad" were to be chalked up as an unfortunate "accident", resulting in no prison time for the man who robbed and threatened the lives of at least two innocent people that day.

Shortly after Officer Scumbag was pinched for that armed robbery, another of Boston's fine, upstanding citizens, oops, I mean, violent gang members, was gunned down in Roslindale by another violent gang member as he sat with his violent gang member friends in a limousine they were riding in after having been at the funeral of yet another violent gang member.

Now, that one was clearly George Bush's fault.

If only Massachusetts would require applicants for firearms licenses to be fingerprinted prior to be given permission to own a gun. Surely, that would prove to be a most valuable tool for the police to have at their disposal when investigating these shootings.

Oh, wait...never mind.

Then, last night, two brothers who had moved from Dorchester to Roslindale were hit by gunfire after someone outside their house fired multiple rounds through a window. Both victims are in critical condition.

If only Massachusetts would pass a "common sense" ballistic fingerprinting law. Because, you know, nothing would thwart violent criminal behavior quite like the threat of having the serial number of one's stolen gun left behind at a crime scene.

And, it's only January.

The total of eight slayings three weeks into the New Year is four times the homicide rate at this time last year.


Give the string another pull, Mumbles, and get your How to Blame Others Handbook ready. It's gonna be a long year.