Boston Police Chief Unleashes on ACLU After Officers' Integrity Gets Questioned
Boston Police Commissioner William G. Gross took the ACLU to task in a private Facebook post obtained by the Boston Herald over a lawsuit taking aim at the department’s database on gang members and potential gang members.
Gross, a 33-year veteran of the BPD and the city’s first African-American commissioner, was none too pleased about a lawsuit from the ACLU and 14 other organizations claiming that the Boston police were being too secretive with the database.
Interestingly enough, this isn’t the first time the ACLU has gone after a prominent police officer of color. The ACLU once went after a police chief in Oklahoma for using Bible verses on the department’s Facebook page.
But while Mounds, Oklahoma, Police Chief Antonio Porter opted to take the ACLU on with a message of love, Gross took a decidedly more pointed approach.
“No ACLU present when we have to explain to a mother that her son or daughter was horribly murdered by gang violence,” Gross wrote on the private Facebook post, according to the Herald.
ACLU hits back at Boston Police Commissioner William Gross over lawsuit seeking data Boston police give ICE https://t.co/2BCoRDsF2d
— The Boston Globe (@BostonGlobe) November 26, 2018
Gross went on to slam the ACLU as “paper warriors.”
“No ACLU when officers are shot. No ACLU when we help citizens,” he added. “Despite the paper warriors, we’ll continue to do our jobs.”
Gross also referenced the hideous crimes committed by MS-13 gang members, and how the ACLU seems to be awfully quiet in regards to crimes committed by them.
“I sure as hell didn’t see the ACLU in El Salvador working to find a solution to our youth being inducted into the MS-13 gang,” another part of Gross’ post read, according to the Herald.
The gang has definitely made its presence felt, the Herald reported:
“MS-13 has been wreaking havoc in Boston with violent killings in Eastie, robberies, extortion, drug dealing and racketeering — with 49 gang members recently convicted, many of them facing life in prison.”
Gross also slammed the ACLU for not having the decency to offer condolences after Boston PD Officer John Moynihan was shot point-blank in his cheek in 2015 by a convicted felon during a traffic stop.
“I sure as hell saw a member of the ACLU in the background taking pictures as a certain group tried to crash through the crime scene three hours later,” Gross wrote in his post.
“No ACLU when officers are shot. No ACLU when we help,” Gross also mentioned. “But always hiding and waiting for a slow news day to justify their existence.”
Specifically, the ACLU claims that the Boston PD gang database targets “a disproportionate amount of black and brown students who may not belong to a gang,” according to the Herald.
It should be obvious why the ACLU’s concerns are wholly out of touch with the gang violence pervading America. Just look at the Herald’s wording. “May not belong to a gang”? The statement admits that the subjects of police interest may, in fact, be in a gang.
If there’s even a chance of that, considering how violent and despicable these gang crimes can be, it’s worth keeping a tab on a person.
Granted, some people’s connections to gangs could be tenuous at best (perhaps it’s a brother-in-law or cousin with actual gang ties), but as we’ve seen through outfits like the Islamic State group, it doesn’t take much for young minds to be brainwashed and indoctrinated.
The ACLU responded to Gross’ comments in a statement to the Herald.
“Commissioner Gross’ accusations appear to be nothing more than an attempt to divert attention from the serious issues raised by an ACLU lawsuit that seeks to uncover whether the Boston Police Department is unfairly and arbitrarily targeting people of color,” Massachusetts ACLU Executive Director Carol Rose said in the statement. “In order to make Boston a safe city for all its residents, we must meaningfully address discriminatory policing, and confront the role the gang database plays in the lives of young Black and Latinx people in our city.”
Considering that both sides have clearly dug into their respective sides, it’s unlikely this will reach a resolution anytime soon.
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