PAX Centurion - September / October 2015

Page 40 • PAX CENTURION • September/October 2015 617-989-BPPA (2772) And the Massachusetts SJC says I can’t stop them from driving a car based on detecting marijuana smoke in and of itself. (But if I see them drinking a beer on the Common, I can arrest them immediately for drinking in public, right SJC?) And you people think I’m going to wade into a crowd stoned out of its mind armed with cellphone cameras and enforce a “no smoking” ordinance”? In that fleeting moment, I thought I saw the “Oh my God, what have we done” look on their faces as they realized that civil disorder and decay was now the norm, and that they, as good liberals, had aided and abetted the very situation they were now complaining about. The police are pow- erless. Light dawned on Marblehead, in that moment. People, you got what you paid for. Don’t wish too hard for what you think you want, because you just might get it. Colorado is learning that lesson now, and Massachusetts will to, as marijuana will soon be available for recreational sale here, too. Forced, mandatory overtime shifts due to short-staffing across the city among the patrol force has taken a toll. Many officers report working in a fog of 18-hour days, going home for a few hours only to drag themselves back for another double-shift. It’s almost funny – but it’s not – to know that you have to work a voluntary detail or overtime shift in order to prevent yourself from being ordered to work on another undesirable shift, whatever that may be. (I’d rather work a day detail than a morning watch downtown on a Friday or Saturday night…) Many officers report domestic discord, fatigue and an increase in the use of sick time just to have a day off with the family or get some R & R time. Some officers report being ordered to work 24-hours in a row, simply because there’s no one left to order for another shift, so the DS is forced to order whoever is physically in front of them to fulfill minimum manning. Many officers hired in the mid-80’s are reaching retirement age, so attrition is becoming a real concern. Hiring classes of 45 or 62 officers is simply not helping a tired, beleaguered patrol force, not when classes in the 80’s numbered 120 or even 150 recruits. Of course, come January, when the over- time $$$ numbers come in, the media will again embarrass officers and point fingers at “how much” officers made during the past year. “How much I made” doesn’t matter when the money is going to a divorce lawyer…. Names and thoughts from all over… From Thoughts on page 29 Attention To all members of the Boston Police Relief Association – Active Duty or Retired If youneed to change your beneficiary or you arenot sureofwhoyourbeneficiary is youcan contact the relief office at 617-364-9565. If you leave amessage your call will be returned and if necessary thepaperworkwill be sent out to you. Thank you. William F. Carroll, Clerk, Boston Police Relief Association guests…as I am about [the business owners and residents].” Of course, Councilor Pressley didn’t want the shelter moving to her Roxbury district when that proposal was floated. And who can blame her or her constituents?Would you?Would the compassionate, tolerant liberals of “Sanctuary Cities” like Brookline or Newton put up with panhandlers in Coolidge Corner or in Newton Centre? Of course not, but in Boston, they give them spare change on their way to work in the office build- ings so they can “feel good about themselves” when they drive home at night. And it is the police, the business owners and the employees of the hospitals and hotels who are left to deal with the consequences of “compassionate liberalism.” My solution? There’s a huge piece of property on Morrissey Blvd. that’s not being used for printing newspa- pers anymore. It’s located next to public transportation and a highway, and could easily be used to house hundreds of homeless people and their service providers. And it’s across the street from UMass, where thousands of compassionate college students could donate their time to care for, feed and educate the homeless and drug-addicted. Even better, the building itself is filled with good liberals who care for the home- less and would love to share their extra space with the less fortunate before they drive home to Hingham and Dover andWellesley; maybe even take a few homeless with them? I’m sure that they won’t find any “traffic-safety concerns” or “zoning issues” that would preclude the use of the property by the homeless, or claim that it’s going to be sold for luxury housing development or anything like that…. D’ya think??? Crime on the rise following arrival of homeless… From Homeless on page 23 The Parable of the Birdfeeder O NCE UPONA TIME a man lived in a beautiful community filled with beautiful homes, beautiful lawns, and beautiful people. Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful. But the man decided that there weren’t enough beautiful birds in his beautiful neighborhood. “Oh, however shall I attract more birds”, he thought. “I know”, he said. “I will hang a bird-feeder and fill it with free birdseed! On the first day, beautiful swans came to eat. On the second day, cardinals and robins and bluebirds arrived. The man was very proud and felt good about himself providing free birdseed for hungry birds. But on the third day, pigeons and sparrows and starlings came to eat and chased away the swans and the cardinals and the beautiful birds. And then came hawks and vultures and wild turkeys and flyingWallendas and gliding aard- varks and abacus and anteaters (the editor’s ornithological knowledge is limited, so he opened the dictionary, went to “A” and took a guess. Give him a break…). And the bad birds dive-bombed the houses and pooped everywhere and created noise and filth and disorder. “Oh my,” cried the man, “however will I get rid of the bad birds?” “Take down the birdfeeder, you idiot,” said his neighbor. And the man did so, and the birds went away, and then they rested because it was the seventh day or something and they danced and sang and rejoiced and had 72 virgins and they saw that it was good… And the moral of the story is: If you don’t want people taking advantage of you, don’t give them free stuff. They’ll go away and find suckers elsewhere. The End.