There is the assumption by several of Watertown’s more vocal social media commenters that crime in our city is steadily rising. It’s their perception and I don’t know if they are right or wrong. My own perception is that the threat of crime in Watertown is rising and will continue to rise.
And how could it not? Drug traffickers compete for customers and territory
and we are prime territory for violent street gangs operating out of their home
bases to our north, south, west, and of course Boston.
Thankfully we don’t get to see them on our street corners. We would
have to tour certain neighborhoods in Boston, Lawrence, Lowell, Springfield, or
Providence to get the best sightings but they are here too. Just less visibly.
In a previous blog post, I
likened the local crime picture to a jigsaw puzzle, where, for understandable
reasons, most of the pieces are kept hidden from the public. The rights of suspects need to be protected.
Delicate investigations require secrecy. Victims are entitled to their privacy.
So, in the interests of justice, we end up seeing a trailer for the movie
instead of the movie.
Citizens and policymakers who demand absolute transparency in
policing are choosing utopian ideology over true public safety.
So, is it worth the time and effort of collecting the puzzle
pieces, if our entire collection amounts to a mere one-tenth of Watertown’s
crime picture?
Yes, if we want our perceptions of the threat of crime to be based
on all the evidence available to us rather than on a gut feeling.
Let’s suppose that, in examining that evidence, you come to the
conclusion that Watertown is under-policed and you feel compelled to share that
view with your district councilor and your favorite at-large councilor, or even
your least favorite at-large councilor.
Shouldn’t you bring your “A game?” After all, residents who hold
the opposite opinion have a track record of bringing theirs.
With that in mind, allow me to present my first puzzle pieces of
2023. But first, let’s be clear that there’s a big difference between seeing
the puzzle pieces and collecting them. If you are only seeing them, most will
probably be soon forgotten. When you are collecting them, you will file them away
for future reference.
Technically, this one took place in 2022, but I think it needs to
be included here because it just might set the stage for what will be occurring
more often in 2023.
The following details are taken from the Watertown police report
given to Watertown News.
“Dec. 29, 9:53 p.m.: Watertown detectives who were in the parking
lot of Target attending to another matter spotted a car with New Jersey license
plates pull in. Then a second person walked over and got into the vehicle. The
car pulled out of the lot and got onto Arsenal Street.
The officer observed the vehicle get stuck trying to make an
illegal left turn into Arsenal Yards from westbound Arsenal Street. The car
then headed west on the wrong side of
the road.
Police pulled over the vehicle on Bond Street in Arsenal Yards. The
officers asked the men what they were doing in the Target lot and one said he
was meeting someone to collect $15,000.
Based on the officer’s experience and knowledge he suspected a drug
sale was taking place. He got permission to search the vehicle and in the rear
of the car he located a kilogram of a substance suspected to be fentanyl. A
field test of the substance confirmed it was fentanyl.
Aneudy Richardson-Jimenez, 34, of Jersey City, New Jersey, and
Socorro Alcantra De La Cruz, 34 of Jersey City, New Jersey, were arrested. Both
face a charge of trafficking fentanyl.”
The account reads like a comedy and would be laughable were it not
for the fentanyl – the single most dangerous illicit drug that, over the past few
years, has found its way into every product peddled by drug dealers.
You might be tired of hearing that fentanyl is 50 times stronger
than heroin and 100 times stronger than morphine. That message has been blasted
by public health agencies through every bullhorn at their disposal.
But teenagers, happily unaware of their not yet developed brains and
their overly expressive hormones, are able to tune out those bullhorns and pump
up the volume on their inner voices that nudge them toward experimentation and risk-taking.
Thanks to the high profitability of cutting all drugs with cheap, easy-to-transport
fentanyl, one experiment can end in death or lead quickly to addiction.
Stories of bright teenagers and young adults with brilliant
futures, who bought a counterfeit Percocet or Xanax on the internet and either died
instantly or went on to become fentanyl zombies are becoming all too common.
A few key questions about the screwy drug bust that will receive no
immediate answer:
For drug traffickers, is Watertown a regular
stopping point on their drug dealing route?
Is the Target parking lot viewed as a safe and
convenient “place of business” for drug traffickers?
What about the Home Depot parking lot or other public
Watertown locations?
Where would the fentanyl have ended up, if not
for the arrest? Would it have been sold to Watertown residents?
Could the Watertown Police use more detectives
who can spot drug deals when they see them?
Those are my questions. You might have questions of your own.
And now, puzzle piece number two for 2023.
The following information comes from the Rhode Island State Police
and/or WPRI News.
According to Corporal Michael Doherty of the Rhode Island State
Police, police in Lincoln, Rhode Island, responded at about 2:34 a.m. to a
motor vehicle crash on Route 146 North, near Route 116.
The car was traveling north on Route 146 when the driver lost
control, striking a highway barrier head-on as it entered the highway.
The front seat passenger, later identified as William Molloy of
Ashland, Massachusetts, was killed. The unnamed backseat passenger was taken to
Rhode Island Hospital in Providence to be treated for serious injuries. His name
and condition have not been made public.
The driver, Christopher Vincent, 25, of Watertown, Massachusetts,
was charged with:
driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, death resulting;
driving under the influence of liquor or drugs, resulting in
serious bodily injury;
driving to endanger, death resulting;
and driving to endanger resulting in personal injury.
According to WPRI News, a witness on the scene told police that they
saw Vincent throw a bottle into the woods, which troopers later found to be
vodka. They also found a bottle of cognac on the passenger-side floorboard.
On scene, troopers said Vincent refused to answer questions. He was
observed to have bloodshot and watery eyes and slurred speech. His breath
smelled of alcohol and he refused to take a sobriety test.
Vincent later refused a chemical test at the hospital, but troopers
obtained a search warrant for his blood. The results are still pending.
Vincent also faces a controlled substance possession charge. State
police said they found suspected ephedrine and cocaine in the vehicle, along
with several cell phones.
In court, police noted that Vincent was also charged with drug
possession in Buffalo, New York, back in September.
Vincent was released on bond, pending his arraignment and the accident
remains under investigation. He is due back in court at the end of March.
There is nothing unusual about a car crash involving alcohol and
drugs. And there is certainly nothing unusual about a car crash taking place on
New Year’s Eve. In fact, this was not the only such car crash taking place in
Lincoln, Rhode Island on this past New Year’s Eve.
This story is relevant here only because the driver of the car is a
Watertown resident. Let’s be clear. Not all the facts are in and Mr. Vincent
is innocent unless proven guilty in a court of law.
Once all the facts are in, which will be months and maybe years
away, it will be valuable for us to know:
Were additional drugs, such as fentanyl (or a
drug to be named later in this post) found in the vehicle?
Were the drugs his?
If the drugs were his, did he buy any of all of
them in Watertown?
If they were his, did he sell drugs in
Watertown?
What drugs, if any, were detected in the
toxicology reports?
And most important to me and to some of you:
What facts will emerge from this tragic incident
that might contribute to our understanding of Watertown’s current crime threat?
My third puzzle piece for 2023.
It’s not an incident or an individual. It’s a substance.
Xylazine is a powerful tranquilizer used on horses and other large
animals. “Tranq,” as it’s known on the street, is rapidly emerging as the newest
secret ingredient added to illicit drugs.
Drug traffickers are always looking to develop the perfect cocktail
to keep users coming back for more. And xylazine may have brought their
cocktail recipe one step closer to perfection. Fentanyl delivers a quick and
intense high while xylazine prolongs the high.
As with fentanyl, xylazine works with every drug delivery system. It
can be inhaled, swallowed, smoked, or injected, which also means it can be
hidden, along with fentanyl, in any illicit drug.
Xylazine is not an opioid so it doesn’t respond to naloxone,
popularly known by the brand name, Narcan. Individuals suffering from an
overdose of any opioid, including fentanyl, can usually be revived with a dose
or two of naloxone. But if they also have xylazine in their system, they are
unlikely to wake up.
Xylazine is a central nervous system depressant that can cause
drowsiness and put users into a deep sleep, leaving them vulnerable to sexual
assault. When, and if, they wake up,
they often suffer from amnesia.
Users who have fallen into a xylazine sleep may not appear to have
overdosed, leaving others to assume that the person has passed out from too
much alcohol − something
college students might consider when attending their next dorm or frat party.
Testing for xylazine is not standard practice and routine
toxicology screenings do not detect it. So, how prevalent is it in drug
overdoses? We have no idea.
But we do know this.
The federal government should have been addressing the fentanyl
epidemic years ago instead of continuing to target heroin as the number one
threat coming across the southern border. Municipalities across the country saw
the fentanyl epidemic at ground level, one overdose at a time.
Should we expect the feds to be ahead of the curve on xylazine? Of
course not. Right now they do not even know where the supply is coming from. It
may be coming over our borders or being pirated from the veterinary supply
chain, or both.
Our first line of defense is right here in Watertown.
In 2023, every drug seizure in Watertown should be tested for
fentanyl and xylazine. And every prospective user – especially teenagers − should
be taught to assume that every harmless-looking pill or powder purchased from a
friend or off the internet contains both fentanyl and xylazine.
If they can’t be convinced with facts and reason, maybe they can be
convinced through facts and fear. Or maybe a combination of both. Solving the
problem is still a puzzle.
Bruce Coltin, The Battle For Watertown
