SEEKING JUSTICE FOR THE FAMILY OF SAM AMEDIO JR. COULD BE THE MOST GRATIFYING VOTE YOU WILL EVER CAST

 

                                                         Sam Amedio Jr.     

I will begin this post by saying that I believe in redemption – when that redemption is earned. There are those who we permit to walk among us who have committed heinous crimes but then paid their debt to society. The road to redemption should not be a smooth one. In cases of murder, it begins by showing honest remorse to the victims’ families – looking them in the eyes and asking for their forgiveness.

It continues with years of showing repentance and demonstrating exemplary behavior, while incarcerated.

And it ends, decades later, only if those we have charged with protecting the safety of the public are convinced, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that the murderer is no longer a danger to the public at large.

Only after those conditions are met, should murderers of innocent victims have their freedom restored.

Allowing for hard-earned redemption makes us human, and there are heart-warming stories of individuals who turned their lives around and were welcomed back into society even by the the families of their victims.

This is not one of those stories.

This story begins in Hillsborough County, Florida, ends in Oswego County, New York, and connects to Watertown, Massachusetts.

William Michael Branshaw is not famous so we cannot place him in the same category as Ted Bundy, Richard Ramirez (the Night Stalker), Dennis Rader (the BTK serial killer), and other psychopaths who grabbed national headlines as the number of their victims and the cruelty of their murders became national news.

But there are two possible reasons that Branshaw is not included in that category. First, he was captured and imprisoned before he could spend the major portion of his adult life adding to his victim count. And second, it’s possible that his previous crimes of brutality (not listed below) have not been discovered or proven, so remain unknown.

Here’s what we do know:

In 1984, Branshaw was convicted of rape in Hillsborough County. He served half of a nine-year sentence and was released on parole in 1988.

In January 1989, a jogger discovered a badly beaten woman lying near Valrico Lake Road, outside of Tampa. Branshaw, 30, confessed to police investigators that he went to a bar with the woman, drove her to a remote area, raped her, beat her, and left her for dead. He then left the scene to buy a six-pack of beer. The victim survived and Branshaw pleaded no contest to sexual battery.

In April 1989, Earl Ware, a 77-year-old bank executive, was strolling down Bayshore Boulevard in Tampa, with his companion, Jane Levine, when Branshaw attacked him from behind, stabbing him with a knife. He then stole Ware’s wallet and kidnapped Levine. Branshaw took her to a motel, where he raped her repeatedly during the night and left her in the morning, gagged and tied to a chair.

In March 1989, neighbors at a boarding house discovered the body of 48-year-old Harriet Dowling. Investigators determined that Branshaw, who also lived in the boarding house had intentionally killed her by giving her an overdose of insulin. Branshaw pleaded no contest to a charge of first-degree murder.

Investigators believe that in April 1989, Branshaw fled to Oswego, New York, where he grew up and still had friends and relatives. He was hiding in a house when 17-year-old Sam Amedio Jr. entered to feed a friend’s pets, while the family was away on vacation. Branshaw beat him to death with a baseball bat, then fled the scene in Sam’s car. He was captured and convicted of the murder and is now serving 25 years to life at a New York correctional facility.

While in prison, Branshaw, who has expressed no remorse for any of his crimes, made a stunning claim. He says that he has murdered 18 people. Some suspect that his claim is only a ploy to be used as a future bargaining chip for a reduced sentence. To date, there is no indication that he has provided any information to law enforcement about the identities or whereabouts of any of the 18 alleged victims.

It could be just a ploy, but from what we know of his cold-bloodedness and disregard for human life, I think we should take him at his word. And so should the parole board.

William Branshaw is up for parole in December – the exact date of the hearing is to be determined.

Tony Amedio of Watertown was Sam Amedio Jr.’s cousin. Tony’s wife, Maureen O’Grady Amedio, is asking us to please send a letter OPPOSING his parole. The Amedio family in Oswego is conducting their own letter-writing campaign as they have done for Branshaw’s previous parole hearings.

Please join this campaign for all of the families of Branshaw’s victims, known or unknown.

You can either write a letter and mail it or you can use the convenient online form linked below and state your reasons in the comment section. It does not have to be a long letter. Just state, in a few sentences, why you want Branshaw to remain behind bars.

In your letter, please be sure to reference inmate William Branshaw and his DIN number 90C0216.

Mail letters to:

Shawangunk Correctional Facility

Attention:  Supervising Offender Rehabilitation Coordinator

PO Box 750

Wallkill, NY 12589-0750

or you may submit your message online at the quick and easy link below:

https://doccs.ny.gov/form/letters-in-support-or-opposition?fbclid=IwAR18TYU4NwVqdw96yBEYiz8XYS4BMPkE5wR2Rg78XQ6GMfGxl33jtuXf4-g&mibextid=Zxz2cZ

 

Please share this post and ask others to share it too.

Thank you!

 

Bruce Coltin, The Battle For Watertown

                                                  

WHEN IT COMES TO RACE, SHOULD OUR SCHOOLS BE TEACHING KIDS WHAT TO THINK INSTEAD OF HOW TO THINK?

 

I asked a question on a certain social media platform about how people view current policies on race, and it got the boot because it “did not conform to community standards.” So I will continue the question here and I will keep it pretty simple. There is a very big and important conversation that is not taking place in the public square of the townish City of Watertown.

When it comes to discussions about race, there is an elephant in the room, but certain people tell us not to look at him because he’s a very bad elephant who only wants to distract us from THE MISSION.  

 And only by ignoring the elephant’s existence can we get on with “doing the hard work” that will set all of us on the only true path to salvation. I am here today to argue that Watertown has reached a point that requires us to give the elephant a seat at the table.                       

To begin the process of making my case, I will for now resist the temptation to use the entire alphabet for my stockpile of potential exhibits and present to you only Exhibits A, B, C, and D.

Exhibit A:

This is one slide from a presentation made by a consulting company to the Watertown School Committee. While watching this meeting over Zoom, I was instantly struck by the absurdity of this slide. I believe I shouted at the TV set: ”Leaders” are actually supposed to do this?

 

Call me crazy, but how about leaders using their brains, experience, and love of education for all decisions made within WPS?

You can watch the entire March 21, 2022 presentation to the School Committee here, beginning at 0:23:43.  And remember, it’s only a presentation. Just because a consulting company comes up with nutty, ideological solutions to problems requiring a realistic, practical approach, it doesn’t mean the customer – a committee and administration made up of intelligent adults − has to buy them. 

But it seems they did.

Exhibit B:

On a July 17, 2023 list containing 54 action items for the District’s Equity Strategic Action Plan Dash Board, here’s item number 4:

“4. Use an explicit Equity Decision-making lens for all decisions made within WPS. Adopt an equity decision-making framework through which all decisions are reviewed. In order to end individual, institutional, and structural racism and bias in the district, all leaders must consistently and intentionally apply an equity lens to every decision made.”

 According to the action plan, this policy is already underway and will be “ongoing, multi-year work.”

 Exhibit C:

Recent WPS District Reads (from the WPS website)

Leading the list:

How to be an Antiracist by Ibram X. Kendi

Antiracist Baby by Ibram X. Kendi

Is there any reading material listed anywhere on the WPS website that opposes anti-racism, which would include books and articles by prominent Black writers and scholars? Of course not.

In Kendi’s own words:

“The opposite of racist isn't 'not racist.’ It is anti-racist. One either allows racial inequities to persevere, as a racist or confronts racial inequities, as an anti-racist. There is no in-between safe space of not racist.”

“Like fighting an addiction, being an anti-racist requires persistent self-awareness, constant self-criticism, and regular self-examination.”

So if you’re a run-of-the-mill decent person, treating everyone with respect, but not actively working, during every waking hour, to hunt down and kill your own inner racist, you are a big part of the problem.

So says the guru and so do his obedient followers, even as a red-faced Boston University carefully and quietly goes about the business of cleaning up his mess.

Exhibit D:

This is the opening of a TED Talk by Coleman Hughes. The title is A Case for Colorblindness.

In the context of this blog post, I will take the liberty of temporarily renaming it: Introducing the Elephant.

“I want to do a quick exercise. Close your eyes. I want you to picture your best friend. Think about what specifically you love about them. What trait makes them…them? Now open your eyes. I don’t know what each of you came up with but I’m pretty sure I know what you didn’t come up with. I’m pretty sure none of you thought that what makes Jim…Jim is the fact that he’s six foot two and a redhead. I’m guessing you chose their inner qualities – their sense of humor, their generosity, their intelligence – qualities they would have no matter what they look like. There’s one more quality I’m pretty sure you didn’t choose – their race. Of all the things you could list about somebody, their race is just about the least interesting you could name − right down there with height and hair color. Sure race could be good source material for jokes at a comedy club, but in the real world, a person’s race doesn’t tell you whether they’re kind or selfish, whether their beliefs are right or wrong, whether they’ll become your best friend or your worst enemy. But over the past ten years, our societies have become more and more fixated on racial identity. We’ve all been invited to reflect more on our inner whiteness or inner blackness as if these racial essences define who we are. Meanwhile, American society has experienced its greatest crisis in race relations in a generation.”

 Author and podcaster, Coleman Hughes 

 

"Enlightened" School districts, including WPS, do not teach Kendi’s anti-racism as a theory or a philosophy. They teach it as indisputable truth. Colorblindness – judging an individual by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin – which my generation grew up with, is now characterized by Kendi-ists as being racist.

I have yet to hear a single Watertown School Committee member or candidate question the district’s all-consuming anti-racism policies. And so, they go unchallenged.

There is a compelling argument that anti-racism indoctrination is harmful to Black children, fueling divisiveness and reinforcing stereotypes. The alternatives, such as teaching children to respect others and empowering them with the anti-bias skills of critical thinking are what most parents and residents actually want. (I wrote about it here.) But there is currently no celebrity guru like Kendi to champion those commonsense policies.

My question is: Who will be the first of Watertown’s elected representatives to dare stand up and question our deeply entrenched anti-racist policies and insist that the elephant gets a seat at the table for an important conversation that is long overdue? Until that happens, the most important diversity of all will remain stifled – diversity of thought.

 

Bruce Coltin, The Battle For Watertown 

A LOCAL MURDER SUSPECT IS APPREHENDED IN FLORIDA! BUT THAT IS JUST PART OF AN OTHERWISE BAD STORY

Here’s the barebones information provided in the official press release:

October 4, 2023, at 5:48 p.m.

“Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan and Waltham Police Chief Kevin O’Connell have announced that Josh Pierre, 21, of Waltham, has been located in Florida and placed under arrest in connection with the Murder of Shelson Jules,22, that occurred in May of this year.

At around 1:30 a.m. on May 22, 2023, on Lyman Street, in the vicinity of Faneuil Road in Waltham, the suspect fired two shots, striking the victim twice from behind, before fleeing the scene.”

Here’s a picture of the suspect, Josh Pierre.

According to the press release, Pierre was arrested in Miramar, Florida on September 22, with the assistance of the Massachusetts State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section and the United States Marshall Task Force.

Since the investigation is underway, we are unlikely to know more about this case anytime soon. But there is more to the story that should be of interest to those of us who are concerned about public safety and the qualifications we desire in the next Chief of the Watertown Police Department.

So, let’s go a bit deeper.

This was not a random murder. And unlike the recent murders in the Nonantum neighborhood of Newton, this was not the act of a deranged individual. While the facts are sketchy, there is enough to suggest that this murder was cold and calculated.

Pierre was a known drug dealer and was under investigation by the Southern Middlesex County Regional Drug Task Force well before he became a suspect in the murder.

He was arrested on May 5, for what Waltham District Court records refer to as “an ongoing situation occurring in the Waltham Public Schools, especially the middle schools.”

Pierre was selling to students, as young as 14, cannabis and THC vape pens that provide them with the ability to get high in public areas with much less chance of getting caught. Smoking joints or pipes emit smoke and distinct marijuana odors, which the pens do not. And vape pens are easier to conceal. Some are made to conveniently fit in the palm of the hand.

Should that sound an alarm for Watertown Middle School and High School parents?

Task force members believe that Pierre had a marketing reach beyond the Waltham city limits, provided to him by the social media platform Snapchat, where teens and drug traffickers share a coded language understood by few adults.

While surveilling Pierre, police observed a drug deal taking place and pulled over a vehicle, where Pierre and a 14-year-old middle school eighth grader were found possessing drugs and paraphernalia. Pierre was arrested on the scene and charged with drug trafficking.

He was arraigned on May 8 – 14 days before the murder − and released on $500 bail.

And the story gets worse from here, especially for parents of school-age children.

 In the vehicle, along with Pierre and the 14-year-old, were two other individuals. One of them, Nyaja Gilchrist, was arrested and charged with multiple drug offenses, including “possession of pressed fentanyl pills with intent to distribute.”

Again, I ask: Should parents of Watertown students be alarmed? Of course, this is more of a statement than a question.

A fourth individual in the vehicle, Waltham resident, Strawensky Cebeat, 21, was later arrested in connection with the murder and charged with being an accessory after the fact and withholding evidence.

All information on Nyaja Gilchrist and Strawensky Cebeat has since been impounded by Waltham District Court and is unavailable to members of the public, which sadly includes me.

There is one more “character” in this story but it’s not a person. It’s a place.

In the 1970s, I lived in a small apartment complex around the corner from Gardencrest Apartments. Occasionally, frustrated apartment hunters would show up at our doors when they found that there was no availability at Gardencrest, which had a reputation as the preferred Waltham residence for both singles and families. The property was well maintained and the rent was considered affordable.

On several occasions, I visited residents, who described Gardencrest as a “happy place to live.”

But that was then.

As part of their investigation involving the Waltham School District, the task force staked out Gardencrest, where at least two of Pierre’s 14-year-old customers live, and observed numerous suspected drug deals that involved Pierre. Since the records are sealed, we do not know if they also involved suspected fentanyl trafficker, Nyaja Gilchrist.

In dozens of police affidavits that I’ve had the opportunity to read, police officers describe just how difficult it is to catch a drug transaction in progress. They happen quickly and mostly out of sight.

But, residents of Gardencrest had to be aware of suspicious activity in their community. We can only wonder how much that activity impacted this community’s quality of life.

We don’t know exactly what took place at the murder scene on Lyman Street, other than the fact that two bullets were fired into Shelson Jules, from behind. Ana Rivas, who lives on Lyman Street told reporters that, “she's counting her blessings” after one of the bullets shattered part of her bedroom window where she was asleep with her grandchild, and added that “it could've hit her head had it entered at a higher angle.”

Other stray bullets damaged nearby vehicles. One area resident said that she thought she heard about eight gunshots fired “one right after the other."

This happened less than two miles from Watertown, where we are now in the process of hiring our next police chief.

In case you haven’t been paying attention, there is a highly vocal and influential group of residents who are lobbying Manager Proakis to select a candidate with a social work philosophy, and matching credentials, to serve as Watertown’s next Top Cop rather than the no-nonsense, street-savvy realist that his officers and the public deserve.

Who can blame them? Watertown has been so remarkably free of major crimes, that it’s easy to believe that bad guys respect our borders and will never be a Watertown problem. And so I will keep repeating the warning that we live in a fool’s paradise.

At least we do for now.

 

Bruce Coltin, The Battle for Watertown

AS WE DILLY-DALLY OVER HOW TO SPEND OUR ARPA BUCKS, SHOULD WE WONDER IF WE HAVE LOST OUR INSTINCT FOR SELF-PRESERVATION?

City councilors have official roles that they play, especially where each serves as chair, co-chair, or secretary on the committees to which they are assigned by the council president.

In addition, some councilors take on an additional role that they choose either consciously or unconsciously based on individual personality, philosophy, or view of local government.

Take for example Council Vice President Piccirilli, who serves unofficially, either consciously or unconsciously, as the Dampener of Expectations. In both council and committee meetings, Councilor Piccirilli can be counted on to answer impatient members of the public, who are insisting on immediate resolution to their proposals, with these three momentum stoppers:

"These things take time."

And…

"Government moves slowly."

And…

"You know what they say about making the sausage."

Often, I am happy to hear him tap the brakes. It gives me hope that certain whacky pieces of business before the council will die a slow death. But, does local government always have to be slow? Aren’t there times when our legislative body can and should press the pedal to the metal?

Watertown just survived a highly unusual summer. While residents spent recent summers facing drought conditions, this summer’s weather alternated between heat and humidity and downpours. Beginning in late June, the ground became saturated, adding more moisture to an overheated and disturbed atmosphere through constant evaporation.

The record-high average sea surface temperature of 76.8 degrees in the North Atlantic Ocean added to the potential for a series of “perfect storms.” The more we learn, the clearer it becomes that Watertown dodged a bullet or possibly multiple bullets.

Other municipalities in our region were not so fortunate.

The devastating storm that hit Vermont on Monday and Tuesday, July 10 and 11  turned out to be the canary in the coal mine. Over those two days, parts of Vermont received two months of rainfall. Montpelier, the capital, which is just a three-hour drive from Watertown, got the worst of it. Montpelier's July rainfall set an all-time monthly record of 12.06 inches, beating the previous monthly record of 10.9 inches set in August 1989.

In many parts of Vermont, prior to the July 10 storm, approximately eight inches of rain had fallen since the last week of June — triple what’s considered normal for that period.

Two people died in the flooding and more than 4,000 homes and 800 businesses reported damage.

Damage from this storm has been compared to Tropical Storm Irene in 2011, which prompted Vermont’s state government to spend heavily on shoring up its infrastructure. So this wasn’t a case of total unpreparedness. It was bad luck that the July 2023 storm exposed major infrastructure weaknesses that had not been addressed in the aftermath of the 2011 storm.

Now, Montpelier has a decision to make. They can decide to repair just the current damage, which is extensive, and hope their bad luck is behind them, at least for another decade. But that might not be a good gamble.

“It’s definitely going to happen again,” said Lauren Oates of the Nature Conservancy of Vermont. “It’s not a question of if, but when and how bad next time.”

Maybe Montpelier’s leaders have already adopted a realistic sense of urgency and will opt for something truly transformative. Something like an infrastructure Manhattan Project. Time will tell.

Closer to home, 40 miles to our south, Attleboro and North Attleboro were hit with three consequential storms in three consecutive months.

On Sunday, July 16, waves of heavy rainfall thundered through the North Attleboro / Attleboro area, starting in the morning and lasting into the night, causing flooding that overflowed storm drains, and flooded streets, yards, and basements.

 Almost exactly one month later on Friday, August 18, the next storm hit, bringing heavy rain and strong winds. Here’s one person’s vivid description:

"The rain was just going sideways and the wind picked up more, which I couldn't believe it …and the next thing I saw was sparks coming from the electrical line and it was bouncing onto the street. It was the scariest thing I've ever been through in my entire life."

The National Weather Service later confirmed that the storm had spawned a tornado. One witness said, ‘In the moments before it hit, it sounded like a train barreling toward them.” Drivers on I-93 reported seeing cars hydroplaning.

The third storm hit the Attleboro area a few weeks later on Monday, September 11, and continued through the day on Tuesday.

Town officials reported that there were around 200 homes with flood damage. Fire crews responded to 145 calls for service, mostly for issues related to water and flooding. They warned residents to avoid walking in standing water, which could be contaminated with sewage.

And still, the Attleboro area may have dodged a bullet.

As with the previous storm, the National Weather Service confirmed the presence of a tornado − actually a cluster of four tornados, striking Connecticut, Rhode Island, and North Attleboro.

Might we be witnessing the development of a new “tornado alley,” spreading into Massachusetts?

The North Attleboro tornado had estimated winds of 75 mph and a length of 370 feet, which is about the length of a football field. Fortunately, it touched down in a rural area, causing mostly tree damage.

Here’s a picture of a housing complex parking lot in Attleboro on Wednesday, September 13 after the storm had moved on. Notice the rushing water at the bottom of the picture.

Meanwhile, 30 miles to our north, North Andover and Andover took three consequential hits within a two-month period.

On Tuesday, August 8, more than six inches of rain fell within a six-hour period. Flood water reaching five feet poured into homes and businesses. First floors and foundations naturally received the brunt of the flood damage.

On Friday, August 11, another storm, producing three inches of rain, fell in a two-hour period, bringing additional destruction to many of the same homes and businesses that were damaged on August 8.

North Andover, alone, sustained nearly $30 million in flood damage to public buildings, schools, businesses, and private homes. Some roads were completely washed away.

Here’s a picture taken in the North Andover business district.

As soon as the cleanup began, Town Manager Melissa Murphy-Rodrigues reported that: “Insurance claims have already started to be denied.”

On Friday, September 8, a new storm hit, targeting Andover. The high winds snapped tree limbs and ripped mature trees out of the ground blocking streets, landing on homes, cars, and downing power lines. There were widespread reports of live wires lying across roads and sidewalks, leaving most residents and businesses without power.

Here’s a shot that captures one section of downed trees and power lines.

And, lastly, let’s look 36 miles to our west at the City of Leominster.

On  Monday, September 11 a torrential storm, according to Mayor Dean Mazzarella, “stalled out over the city as it delivered a life-threatening amount of rain and flooding between 4 p.m. and 10 p.m..”

Roads were left impassable, a heavily trafficked bridge collapsed, and hundreds of residents needed to be rescued with boats.

The mayor gave the early estimation for infrastructure repair costs at anywhere from $25 to $40 million. "That's just city infrastructure," Mazzarella said. "We're trying to work on what assistance we can get to our businesses and our homeowners. Homeowners are finding out that in many cases they're not covered by insurance. And so we're trying to help them out."

The city said a relief fund has been set up to support the residents affected by the flood.

You have probably seen pictures on local and national newscasts of the famous Leominster sinkhole and the house across from it.

 

This sinkhole resulting from road buckling is one of many. The home at the top of the picture has now been officially condemned. If there’s a bright side to the sinkholes, it’s that they are making it easier for DPW crews to replace ruptured water and sewer pipes.

Stalled-out storms played a major role in the devastation brought to each of the four regions mentioned above. Instead of spreading the rainfall over larger areas of land, the stalled-out storms dumped record-breaking levels of rain and maintained longer periods of battering wind on those concentrated areas. 

Those storms stalled out because of blocking patterns, sometimes called atmospheric traffic jams, that prevented those storms from continuing on their paths.

The overall weather system moved slowly because of a blocking pattern in the atmosphere that led to the storm’s low-pressure circulation getting stuck behind a large area of high-pressure over Greenland.

So, now Watertown has to worry about what is happening in the atmosphere over Greenland?

The answer is: Yes.

To date, I have watched approximately 50 TV interviews of residents who witnessed Mother Nature’s destruction in those communities to our north, south, and west. There is one outstanding common denominator. Longtime residents of 30 to 60 years in those communities, were visibly stunned and made statements that boiled down to this: I have never seen anything like this before.

So far, the weather in 2023 has been much more extreme than most experts expected it to be, and it’s anybody’s guess what this winter will have in store for us. Is there any reason to believe that 2024, 2025, and beyond will be less extreme?

Does anyone know what it would be like if two months of rain were to fall on Watertown in two days, on top of saturated ground?

Would low-lying roads, adjacent to the river, including Pleasant Street, Main Street, and Watertown Street be flooded?

Would streets buckle, causing sinkholes that would expose water and sewer pipes to further damage?

How likely is it that flood waters would be contaminated with sewage?

Would ground saturation and high winds bring down trees and limbs on top of power lines, killing power to the whole city?

Do we even know enough to answer those questions?

Watertown has a $10.5 million slush fund compliments of ARPA, the American Rescue Plan Act. The city received 32 applications requesting a share of that fund. Some of them would benefit a segment of the community. Some would benefit a sliver of the community.

All of the applications were submitted by the deadline date of March 26 – about 15 weeks before the stalled-out storm flooded Montpelier and much of Vermont on July 10 and 11.  

DPW has applied for about half of the $10.5 million, specifying that the money would cover the costs of replacing leaking pipes, and noting that 75 to 80 miles of those pipes are over 100 years old.

Some prominent voices, with their own pet projects, consider DPW’s request to be greedy and unnecessary. In the environment in which we now find ourselves, I think the amount of the request is woefully inadequate.

I have one final question. Despite the alarming cluster of rarely seen weather events that have happened to communities surrounding Watertown, do our leaders have an “it can’t happen here” mentality that makes us all sitting ducks?

Quack. Quack. Quack.

 

Bruce Coltin, The Battle for Watertown 

AN OPEN LETTER TO THE COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SAFETY REGARDING THE NEXT POLICE CHIEF

Dear Committee Chair Airasian, Vice Chair Izzo, and Secretary Piccirilli,

On Monday, September 11, you will meet to discuss and receive community input on the qualities needed in our next police chief.

I laid out the first part of my own input in Watertown’s Police Reformers Want To Choose Our Next Top Cop. What Could Possibly Go Wrong? While the subject of that post is random violence by individuals, the focus of this open letter is on large-scale crime of an organized nature.

I don’t need a crystal ball to tell you that you will be (and probably already are), on the receiving end of a loud, well-organized effort on behalf of a small group of residents to narrow those desired qualities in accord with their ideological beliefs.

Their intention, as we have heard during three meetings of the Committee on Public Safety, beginning in March of 2021, is to bring reforms to the Watertown Police Department that will expose and put an end to alleged racially biased policing conducted by the department.

At that time, only one of you – Councilor Piccirilli − was a member of the Committee. As they say, this is a brand-new ballgame. In conducting an official community discussion about the qualities needed in our next police chief, the opportunity to restore and reaffirm the true meaning of public safety is, for now, in your hands.

Public safety is not accidental and it’s not guaranteed. And the challenges to public safety are too often hidden from plain sight. If someone were to ask you: On a one-to-10 scale, how would you rate the threat of serious crime in Watertown? What would you answer?

I would define serious crimes as those criminal acts that have the potential to result in the physical harm or death of the victims.

I would bet that most residents would call it a 1, 2, or 3. How about you? Before answering you might decide to review the public police reports, which would be a good first step.

But public police reports purposely provide minimal information, showing us only the tip of the iceberg. Here’s a perfect example:

Dec. 29, 2022 at 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.”

This particular report, as it appeared in Watertown News, provided more information than most others but it probably commanded very little of your attention, if you even noticed it at all.

Let’s go deeper. Did you find the mention of a kilogram of fentanyl alarming? I did. And so should every Watertown resident, especially every elected official.

1 kilogram = 1,000,000 milligrams. According to the CDC, as little as 2 milligrams is lethal for most humans.

So the two New Jersey men were carrying enough fentanyl to potentially kill 500,000 people. We often refer to those individuals as overdose victims. That characterization is dangerously inaccurate. In reality, they are victims of criminal poisoning.

Here’s a picture comparing a lethal dose of fentanyl with a lethal dose of heroin. It will tell you all you need to know about why fentanyl is so profitable and so lethal.

 Fentanyl has revolutionized the illicit drug industry because It’s so easy to hide so easy to transport, and so easy to combine with other illicit drugs to make them exponentially more addictive. If it doesn’t kill you it makes you a zombie, or in the eyes of drug traffickers, a valuable, repeat customer.

Here’s what the police report does not tell us:

Prior to the arrest, had these two traffickers sold drugs elsewhere in Watertown? Had they not been arrested as a result of heads-up police work and reckless driving, where would they be headed next? Do the two men have prior criminal records? Were they members or affiliates of a national street gang? Was Watertown a regular stop for them as well as for members of their distribution network? Did their arrest lead to additional arrests or investigations by state, federal, and local law enforcement agencies?

We are unlikely to have the answers to these and other pertinent questions until this case works its way through the court system, which might be years from now.

Why is that a public safety problem?

When critical information on serious crime is understandably unavailable to us, and when the information that is available is buried in a public police report that is noticed by a small segment of the population, it serves to reinforce the false perception that Watertown’s serious crime threat is at the low end of the scale.

It’s human nature. What we can’t see won’t hurt us.

Let’s take a look at one more police report, published in Watertown News.

July 25, 2023, at 11:48 a.m.: “Detectives from the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force observed a man making a drug sale on Brookline Street. The man had been under investigation for a month. After the sale, police pulled the suspect’s vehicle over. They immediately noticed two tied-off corner plastic bags with a white rock substance inside the vehicle. The man was arrested and the car was towed to the police station for further investigation. A police search dog discovered a compartment inside the vehicle with 108 corner bags with cocaine and fentanyl inside. The substances were field tested and will be sent to the State Crime Lab for confirmation. Police said the bust took a significant amount of drugs off the streets. Bryan Jean Carlos Vallejo Perez, 28, of Boston, was arrested on charges of trafficking a Class B drug (cocaine), trafficking a Class A drug (fentanyl), and possession with intent to distribute a Class B drug (cocaine).”

On a trip to the clerk’s office at Waltham District Court, I found an additional police record listing the total weight of the fentanyl at approximately 16 grams and the total weight of the cocaine at approximately 36 grams.

Cocaine is considered a “party drug,” which, on its own is highly addictive. The addition of fentanyl (usually unknown to the users) takes it to a completely different level – a level where a lethal overdose is really a case of criminal poisoning.

Unlike the case in the first police report, this one shows the result of targeted police work. I would ask the same types of questions here, but again, it could be years before getting any of those questions answered. And, in this case, I would ask one more question:

How many ongoing investigations by the Suburban Middlesex County Drug Task Force are currently in progress?

As the designated monitors of Watertown’s public safety, wouldn’t that be useful information?

I don’t expect any of you to do this, but if you comb through the public police reports in Watertown, Waltham, Newton, Cambridge, Somerville, Boston, and the Massachusetts State Police, as well as press releases from DEA and DOJ, where convictions, sentences handed out by the courts, crime details, and gang affiliations are made public, you will likely see the same picture that I see.

While incidents of serious crime in Watertown are few, the actual serious crime threat is higher than most people think. Just how high, we may never know, but if we can get closer to that reality, we will be a smarter and safer community.

What do I want in the next police chief? I would like a chief who makes us more aware of the real threat level and gives us a view – even from 30 thousand feet – of how the Watertown Police Department monitors it and deals with it.

The next time drug merchants from Boston, New Jersey, or anywhere else are busted on one of our streets or in one of our parking lots for trafficking thousands or hundreds of thousands of doses of fentanyl poison, I would like the chief to go before the cameras and make that announcement for all to hear.

This kind of message warrants amplification, not just notification.  

Though he may only be able to show us the tip of the iceberg, the next police chief should make it a priority to periodically remind us that real public safety is not guaranteed and that it is not accidental.

We are right now at a critical tipping point. We can come to appreciate the need for robust policing to deal with the real crime threat or we can yield to those few who believe that we have more to fear from the police than from the criminals.

Bryan Jean Carlos Vallejo Perez, Aneudy Richardson-Jimenez, and Socorro Alcantra De La Cruz are three members of a “marginalized community,” victimized by a racist society who were racially profiled by a police department, riddled with systemic racism. Attention: future Human Rights Commissioners!

At your September 11 meeting, the police reform group will continue to try to dominate the discussion, lecturing you that: The next chief must have impeccable antiracist credentials. He must be willing to accept a citizens advisory committee. He must graciously answer to the Human Rights Commission. You, the members of the Committee on Public Safety, must understand that they, alone, occupy the moral high ground.

I know a few of these reformers, and I don’t doubt their sincerity. But their efforts are grossly misplaced. They are not living in Minneapolis, Ferguson, Baltimore, or Memphis. Here in the townish City of Watertown, where we are fortunate to have a well-hired, well-trained, thoroughly decent police force, these well-meaning reformers are downright dangerous.

You know this town better than they do and you know our police department a lot better than they do.

I ask the three of you to please stand up for the commonsense public safety of every law-abiding individual who lives here, works here, or visits here.

Your community needs you as never before!

 

Bruce Coltin, Marion Road

 

PS: In 2021 and 2022, Overdose deaths of teens tripled, and overdose deaths of Black teens surged five-fold.

PPS: In 2021 and 2022, synthetic opioid/fentanyl fatalities among children aged 14 and under rose faster than any other age group, and more than tripled in just two years. 

  

WATERTOWN’S POLICE REFORMERS WANT TO CHOOSE OUR NEXT TOP COP. WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?

 Sometimes the point of violent crime is all about the money and forcibly removing those who stand in the way. Drug trafficking is a dirty, lethal business that deeply affects modern society. But, living in a community like Watertown, those criminals and their victims are mostly invisible. (More on this in a future blog post)

But there is another category of violent crime where the jackpot is not paid in cash but in enjoying the thrill of inflicting harm on unsuspecting, defenseless women and men.

You may have seen a recent notification from the Waltham Police Department, first appearing on their website and social media sites on August 4.

Apart from the purpose of this notification, which is to enlist the public’s help in identifying the suspect and warning members of the public to be observant and take precautions, this message from the Waltham Police Department is a loud wake-up call.

At least it should be.

Watertown has just begun the process of selecting the next police chief, in an environment where the traditional definition of public safety is being challenged.

I have bolded several sentences in this notification that might remind some of us of why the traditional definition matters.  

Here’s the notification:

“The Massachusetts State Police and Waltham Police continue to investigate an assault that took place along the Riverwalk on the night of Sunday, July 30, 2023.

Today State Police and Waltham Police are releasing a police artist’s sketch of the assailant in the hope that a member of the public may recognize the suspect and contact us.

The assailant is believed to be a Hispanic male, approximately in his late 20s or his 30s, and approximately 5’7”. He was wearing a baseball cap at the time of the assault.

The assault occurred in the area of Newton and Farwell Streets at approximately 8:45 PM on Sunday, July 30. The female victim, a young adult, heard footsteps behind her and then was grabbed from behind by the suspect, who tried to put his hand over her mouth.

The victim was able to scream and struggled to get free. The assailant then let go of her and ran off. The woman turned and saw the assailant fleeing. Units from Waltham Police and State Police responded and searched the area but were not able to locate the suspect.

Anyone who recognizes this suspect or has any information about the assault is urged to call Massachusetts State Police Troop H Detectives at 617-740-7544, the Waltham Police Department at 781-314-3600, or simply call 911.

We urge the public to be aware of their surroundings and the presence of other people around them when walking in any public space. People should carry a cell phone, don’t wear headphones, and may also consider carrying pepper spray. If you see anything or anyone suspicious call 911 immediately. If you are assaulted, if at all possible scream, make noise, and fight back.

We thank the Lincoln Police Department for their assistance in creating the sketch.”

Here’s the sketch, drawn from the victim’s description of the suspect.

We are reminded by this message that law enforcement and the preservation of public safety are collaborative efforts. The area known as the Riverwalk is a state park operated by the Department of Conservation and Recreation, so officers of the Waltham Police Department are working with troopers of the Massachusetts State Police. The sketch of the suspect came from the Lincoln Police Department. I imagine that when this suspect is apprehended, it will have resulted from contributions from other police agencies and from tips from members of the general public.

I would be surprised if the police departments of Newton, Watertown, and other nearby communities are not, in some way, involved in the search.

The comments on social media reflect the fear and anxiety generated by this attack, which I am sure is reaching the offices of Waltham’s mayor and the police chief.  

I hope that most Waltham residents are confident that the police, in pursuing this assailant, are leaving no stone unturned.

In the meantime, something precious has been lost.

Freedom from fear of physical assault is a luxury we often take for granted. Random acts of violence by sexual predators deprive women of the freedom to walk alone, without fear, even on a tree-lined path along the Charles River, enjoyed by couples, families, dog walkers, runners, and bicyclists.

For apartment dwellers, office workers, and all residents and visitors seeking fresh air and scenery, Waltham’s Riverwalk is an urban oasis. But this oasis is becoming increasingly unsafe for women who wish to enjoy it alone, especially after dark.

In September of last year, a girl (her age was not made public) was raped on the Riverwalk and a few weeks later, a woman, running along the Riverwalk was groped by a man on a bicycle.

In the first incident, according to police, “The girl was walking with friends near the Riverwalk's Elm Street entrance. After she separated from her friends, she was grabbed from behind and pushed against a tree then sexually assaulted until her assailant thought he heard someone coming.”

The victim didn't turn around but heard what sounded like a person riding off on a bicycle.

In the second incident, according to police, “a woman running on the path near Prospect and Crescent streets said she was touched inappropriately by someone on a bicycle who approached her from behind.” The woman ran off.

We do not know if the three attacks were committed by the same individual. Nor do we know the extent to which women have changed their habits on or around the Riverwalk or in other sections of Waltham, especially after dark.

A female commenter on the Waltham PD Facebook page, referring to the Riverwalk, said: “Never would I walk down a path with no escape.” She’s right about there being no escape. Between Farwell Street and Elm Street, unless you happen to be near one of the cross streets, where you can enter or exit the Riverwalk, there is no place to escape and no place to hide.

Police patrols have been temporarily beefed up but a permanent public safety solution needs to be found. And it will be. Because Waltham has a firm grip on the true meaning of public safety.

And, with good reason.

In Waltham, dealing with community fear, spread by a violent predator, is not new.

On November 10, 2020, a man was attacked from behind by an assailant who struck him with a blunt object. The next day another man was attacked from behind in a parking garage. Over the next month, nine more men were attacked in a similar manner. Some were found unconscious.

Reports of these attacks set the community of Waltham on edge. Police stepped up patrols.

At a news conference, Waltham Police Chief Keith MacPherson (now retired) said: “The motive is somewhat in question but it appears to be a thrill of the assault, or someone who’s very violent and enjoys seeing someone hurt by this. There’s never been a robbery — it’s always been just an assault and the assailant takes off.”

Mayor Jeannette McCarthy urged residents not to walk alone and stick to well-lit areas.

Residents began changing their routines, no longer strolling or dog walking alone, especially after dark.

“My God, we’re scared,” Amos Frederick, 37, told a reporter from Associated Press. “All of us stay indoors except during the day. If someone is just walking to their car, we watch out for them.”

On December 11, Waltham police arrested 24-year-old Clauvens Janvier for the second attack, but they did not yet know if he was responsible for the other attacks or if there was another attacker still on the loose.

The mystery and the public’s anxiety ended just over four months later on March 18, 2021, with the announcement that Mr. Janvier, the man in custody since December 11 was the lone attacker.

“It took months of investigation to link him to all of the attacks,” said District Attorney Marian Ryan. “After an extensive investigation that included a review of cellphone data and surveillance video, the execution of search warrants and interviews with victims and witnesses, investigators determined that he was responsible for the 10 other attacks.”

Through a search warrant executed on Janvier’s car, detectives found a machete, a gun, two knives, and blood-stained boots.

The blood from the boots was then compared to DNA samples that investigators collected from the 11 known victims.

Solid police work.

Mayor McCarthy expressed the community’s sigh of relief: “It was traumatic for the victims, but It was traumatic for the whole city.”

Police reports revealed that Janvier had a history of violent crimes including assault and battery with a dangerous weapon.

Other than being men, his victims did not fit a particular profile. They were of varying ages and racial and ethnic backgrounds and included a postal worker.

There was an important piece of information that neither the mayor, the police chief, nor the D.A. could provide. Had it not been for the arrest and the thorough investigation, how many more victims could Clauvens Janvier have added to his list of successful, head-bashing ambushes? Dozens more?

No police department can provide data on how many crimes were prevented and how many individuals did not become victims thanks to solid police work.

An attack from behind in a dimly lit area, where a predator can choose his perfect moment to strike has a high probability of success. And since this predator seems to have been seeking gratification coming from “the kill,” why would he ever want to stop feeding himself that gratification?

 Here’s a picture of Clauvens Janvier.

 

 And here’s a picture of one of his victims.

 

 This is Emerson Antonio Aroche Paz holding a selfie that he took while being treated at Newton-Wellesley Hospital. This statement from Chief MacPherson  would make a fitting caption:

“This is the work of someone who’s very violent and enjoys seeing someone hurt.”

Or, this one:

“No robbery. Just the thrill of the assault.”

So, the cops quietly did their jobs and removed a violent attacker from the streets of Waltham.

The mayor, the police chief, and the D.A. did their jobs and kept the public informed but not to the point of jeopardizing the investigation. Complete transparency in police work is unrealistic.

And guess what! The system worked as it was designed to work − without the assistance (or interference) of a citizens advisory committee.

Now let’s imagine that Clauvens Janvier’s terror spree was taking place today in the City of Watertown. And let’s suppose that the Human Rights Commission was already up and running.

 Clearly, Mr. Janvier, as you can see, is Black. Would the fringiest of our progressive idealists be crying foul? After all, wasn’t the assailant obviously a victim of a fractured, biased, underfunded mental health system?

Wasn’t he the real victim?

How about the suspected Riverwalk assailant who appeared to the victim as possibly Hispanic? Is the inclusion, in the police department’s notification, of “is believed to be a Hispanic male” racist?

Or might it simply be a critical lead that, along with the sketch, will hopefully result in the capture of the assailant, allowing women of every race and ethnicity, as well as the men in their lives, to breathe a collective sigh of relief?

If a suspected assailant is arrested in Watertown for attacking a woman on our Riverwalk, should our future Human Rights Commission be called upon to sort this out, with the understanding that every assailant is himself a victim of societal neglect and depending on race and ethnicity, a victim of systemic bias?

 

On Tuesday, July 24, in the Watertown Savings Bank room at the library, City Manager George Proakis, flanked by his two veteran public safety consultants, Jack Parow, and Ken Lavallee, held his Community Input Forum about selecting the next chief of the Watertown Police Department.

If you were not in attendance and if you have not seen the video recording, and if you happen to care about real public safety, I urge you to watch it.

 If you think that it matters what kind of top cop the next police chief will be, I urge you to watch it.

If you, like many of our fellow residents, are clueless as to how much pressure is being placed on Manager Proakis by a small, determined, highly organized group of police reformers, to view this appointment through a narrow racial lens, I urge you to watch it and to make your voices heard.  

Safe streets and parks, for every man, woman, and child of every skin color which is the current reality in Watertown, is not an accident and it is not guaranteed.

And please remember that the next police chief will have to contend with our new Human Rights Commission, which is liable to have the same narrow field of vision that dominated the City Manager’s meeting.

The members of this much-needed (because other towns have one) commission haven’t been appointed yet so I can’t show you a group picture. Until I can do that, I have a picture that I am using as a placeholder.

 

 

 Bruce Coltin, The Battle for Watertown