Will the Occupiers return? Geez, I hope so….
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By Jim Carnell, Pax Editor ecently, the remnants of “Occupy Boston” had another of their stupid marches through downtown Boston, screwing up traffic and ruining the night for thousands of people who actually work for a living. And, as usual, like a dog being led by the nose, the leadership of the BPD did nothing to prevent these deranged rich kids and aging hippies from marching- the wrong way- against traffic despite the fact that they had no permit and quite frankly, didn’t care, because nobody enforces the law any-
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Nation’s First Police Department • Established 1854
Volume 42, Number 1 • January/February 2012
PAXCENTURION Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, Inc. Boston Emergency Medical Technicians
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF POLICE ORGANIZATIONS
“Untruthfulness” – it’s whatever the department says it is… Dave Williams termination: what can happen just for doing your job By Jim Carnell, Pax Editor his is a story about what can happen to each and every one of us who responds to radio calls. This is the story of a good police officer who made outstanding arrests, but was terminated because the department and the city chose to believe a fighting drunk who resisted arrest and struggled with officers. This is the story of what happens when you do your job and then wind up in the middle of a bunch of drunken a-holes who feel entitled to disrupt traffic and interfere with cops trying to do their jobs. This is yet another story of the department throwing a working street officer under the bus. This is the story of Officer David Williams. On March 16th, 2009 (yes, the night before St. Patrick’s Day… what do you think the Hibernian-surnamed lad in our story was doing before he ended up on Hanover St. in the North End?) Officer David Williams and other officers from Area A-1’s morning watch received a “routine” radio call at 12:02 AM (proving once again the old adage that “nothing good happens after midnight) for a “fight following a car accident on Hanover St.” Now, as anyone who knows Hanover St., it’s a mess of double-parked cars and intoxicated nitwits… even on a good night. But the officers responded quickly nonetheless, and soon met up with the source of the problem: apparently, the driver of a Volvo and his two companions who were in a hurry crossed over the center line and hit a double-parked car, causing dents, minor damage, etc. Basically, it should have been just another of the thousands of fender-benders that occur every day in Boston. Each party blames the other, exchanges papers, and goes on their merry way. Notify your insurance company later. But for some people, especially those who’ve been drinking and think they’re important because they’re also a Sheriff in
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Middlesex County, everything becomes a federal case. David and his partner begin telling the three men (who were also alleged to have backed the wrong way down a one way
perwork, but the conspiracy-theorist young men insist that the cops “aren’t doing their jobs, we’re taxpayers” (Geez, when have you ever heard that line before??? If I only had a nickel every time I heard that one…)
The suspect (who also is employed as a Middlesex County Sheriff…ain’t that marvelous while fighting with the cops..) claims “police brutality” and demands to be taken to the hospital because he “lost consciousness” during the arrest; that claim is somewhat dubious because Officer Williams says that the man was resisting arrest and screaming the entire time he was trying to place cuffs on him (apparently, unconscious people have an incredible ability to continue to fight with the police…). street in what appears to have an attempt to flee, although they eventually returned to the scene) to exchange paperwork with the man in the other car. The men begin screaming that the other driver “stated he was a federal agent, and you cops are covering up for him”. (If these nitwits knew what the average cop thinks of Fred the Fed, they’d have realized how wrong they were, but when you’re non compos mentis as a result of inebriating liquor, what do they know?) For his part, the other driver also asserted that one of the men in the Volvo called him vulgar, racist names (the other driver was black, the men in the Volvo were white). At any rate, the other guy insists he never said that he a federal agent, he just wanted to exchange paperwork, and so Dave and his assisting officer keep telling the three men to calm down, exchange paperwork, and be on their way. Over and over again, they plead with the men to simply exchange pa-
and they insist they “want something done”. Dave finally agrees to “do something” as they insist, and so he starts writing the driver of the Volvo a ticket for crossing over the center line and backing down a one-way street (after all, it appears that he, the driver of the Volvo, was more at fault for the accident than the car that was double-parked, a chronic problem in the North End with no known solution.) At this point, the Middlesex sheriff who was eventually arrested by Williams wasn’t even the subject
of the ticket, but… That’s when “the cell-phone/camera dance” begins. (All officers have become accustomed to this routine from drunken idiots at nightclubs or “concerned citizens” hoping to catch their own private Rodney King video to put on YouTube. They call the police because someone is getting the snot kicked out of him or needs help and then begin recording the police claiming police brutality.) The man who would later be arrested begins impeding traffic, won’t get out of the middle of the street, screams and swears and constantly gets up in the officer’s faces. At some point, after ordering him repeatedly to get out of the street and get up on the sidewalk, Dave’s assisting officer decides to place the moron under arrest for disorderly conduct, and he begins resisting. Williams stops writing the ticket and comes to his partner’s aid, and brought the man to the ground. The struggle escalates, with the man trying to get away and resisting being handcuffed. One of the man’s friends also attempted to rescue him and interfere with the arrest – he too would be arrested – and he also allegedly slapped the driver of the original double-parked car. Williams calls for help, officers from Area A-1’s beleaguered morning watch arrive, and the miscreants are carted off to the station for booking. Typical arrest, right? Well, No… (continued on page A4)
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