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No charge issued at Clerk Magistrates Hearing. Was it special treatment?

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A news story reported by WCVB Channel 5 suggests that a finding of no criminal charge at a clerk Magistrate’s hearing in Highham is suspicious, and suggested a special deal. There is store video of a husband and wife apparently walking out of the Kohl’s in Hingham which a cart full of clothing that they didn’t pay for.

The kicker is that the defendant is Edward Savage, formerly the police chief in Hanson and his wife Christine.

And now, after apparently not meeting the terms of the hearing deal agreed to last July, to write a simple apology letter, the pair is to be arraigned and charged with the crime on April 2nd.

Did a former police chief get a criminal charge against swept under the rug the first time because of who he was? The details are interesting, but the conclusion is: Probably not. [Read more…]

Support Uber/Lyft CORI Background Check Reform

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Update: 9/18/17: The DPU has released new rideshare background check rules, but they changes appear minimal and insufficient. Uber and Lyft spokespersons say they are reviewing.

  • CWOFs that are more than 7 years old can get a hearing before the DPU appeals board. We have no idea how likely they are to reverse a denial if you appeal, and on what grounds they might do so.
  • License suspension disqualifications will only go back 5 years instead of 7.
  • The TNC has updated their website with appeal process information.

That’s about it.

Johanna Griffiths of the Law Offices of Russell J Matson is quoted in the Boston Globe and the BU Daily Free Press.

“It’s wrong that people in this type of situation are stigmatized in the way that they are,” Griffiths said. “It’s about people having a right to work, getting past mistakes and moving on with their lives.”

“For the most part, you can get any job with a CWOF,” Griffiths said. “The hardest job to get right now in the state of Massachusetts is a job driving for Uber or Lyft.”

[Read more…]

How Police Search the Tewksbury Motel 6 Guest Register for Open Warrants

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Update 9/14/17: Motel 6 claims to have now discontinued the program of sending guest data to ICE.  However, we still don’t know:

  • What was the exact nature of the arrangement between Motel 6 and ICE Agents?
  • Will they still hand over data when specifically requested without a warrant?
  • Will they still be sharing data with other law enforcement agencies for the purposes or warrant sweeps or any other reason?
  • What is the corporate policy regarding the privacy of guest data and law enforcement?

Update: 9/13/17: A Motel 6 in Arizona has been sending its guest registration data to ICE to facilitate immigration arrests.

“We send a report every morning to ICE — all the names of everybody that comes in,” one front-desk clerk explained. “Every morning at about 5 o’clock, we do the audit and we push a button and it sends it to ICE.”

It appears that Motel 6 management doesn’t just comply with specific law enforcement requests, but proactively sends data to be matched with law enforcement databases, be it for immigration status, warrants, or other reasons. If it is so simple that it is a one button push, does that suggest that this procedure is built into to their corporate guest services software?

If it is so simple that it is a one button push, does that suggest that this procedure is built into to their corporate guest services software? Motel 6 is owned by the Blackstone Group, whose chairman and CEO is Stephen Schwarzman, a strong supporter of President Trump.

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Is the Motel 6 in Tewksbury turning over daily guest register information to the Tewksbury Police, without informing their paid guests?

Almost certainly this is the case. Troubling data from anecdotal reports as well as patterns from the Tewksbury police log suggests daily police sweeps resulting in frequent warrants served and warrant arrests at this location. [Read more…]

Am I Going to Jail? I Was Charged With a Crime in Massachusetts

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One of the most common questions we get from people who’ve been arrested or charged with a crime is Am I Going to Go to Jail?

That is a completely understandable concern. Most people have no idea how the criminal justice system works, and what a typical penalty is if you are convicted of a crime.

My first job when I speak to someone is to calm them down because almost everyone is worried about something that will never happen. I recently had a text conversation where I was happy to get this response:

You honestly helped relieve my stress I’ve never had something like this before and was freaking out about the jail time.

[Read more…]

Police and Social Media

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Update: 7/14: more on this from AP via CBS Boston.

Update 5/18: Great story in the Globe this morning on this.  The Taunton police lieutenant who wrote the post is unapologetic, but Ivan Espinoza-Madrigal of  correctly notes that cops are effectively mocking people with mental health or substance abuse issues here.

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Should the police be cracking jokes and humiliating people they arrest via social media? That’s what happened this week in Taunton, MA.

There was a story that originated from the Taunton Police Department Facebook page about a woman charged for DUI after an accident.

taunton police facebook social medial

Ok, the lizard in the bra makes it an unusual OUI arrest story, I’ll admit

It did have the unusual angle that this woman also happened to have a lizard in her bra. This admittedly odd fact made it clickworthy, so it was picked up by local, regional and then national media. [Read more…]