Another lawsuit against FPD officers

The MWDN published articles about FPD officers 3 out 5 days this week. This lawsuit is from an arrest in 2013 where an officer tazzed a man they were trying to question. Charges were later brought against the defendant, but were later dropped.. no wonder there.
So the defendant sued the 3 officers for excessive force. Two male officers and one female officer who has since retired, claim they did nothing wrong. Judge Richard Stearns dismissed 4 out of 5 counts against the officers and let one stand. The Judge maintains that using the tazzer on the defendant was violating federal law, since there were 3 officers there against one defendant.

It will be fascinating to see the amount of money that the Town has spent defending the FPD in 2016.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20170127/framingham-police-officers-settle-lawsuit-from-man-shocked-with-taser

Another FPD officer resigns among allegations of harrassing woman

In what can only be another black mark on our FPD, an officer is allowed to resign and work somewhere else as a cop. What makes this story even worse than it is, is the fact that it started in 2012, and continued in 2014, 2015 and 2016. Clearly this was ignored by command staff. Many questions still need answers, like how many cops are on detail pay inside companies. Is this really what we pay them to do? It seems like a cushy job making over 6 figures in doing so.


Asked whether the episode could damage the police department's reputation, Trask said members of the public should have confidence the allegations against Calvao were fully investigated.

"I think we received a complaint, and we investigated it fully, and we came to the resolution that we came to," he said. "I don't think that anyone in the community should be worried about the integrity of the police department or our officers not doing their job diligently."

Assistant Chief Trask needs a reality check. The integrity of FPD has been in questions for years now. This episode is just another in a long list of serious allegations that have been largely ignored by the Town. I wonder if the harassed employees at TJX will sue the Town now. And with the officer's departure, is it fair to any other community to hire a know harasser of women. If he did it once, he will continue to do so without penalty. Once again, the union has failed to protect the community from a bad cop, instead, protects the offender.

http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/news/20170123/framingham-officer-accused-of-harassing-woman-resigns

As Obama leaves.. a raft of settlements with big business

 Before the last call, President Obama has reached settlements to the tune of 20 billion dollars. The settlements involving wrongdoing ranging from misdeeds during the financial crises to emissions cheating and discrimination in lending. The players who will have to pay, 5.3 billion from Credit Suisse Group, 64 million from State Street Corp and 100 million from Irish drug maker Mallinckrodt. Others include 7.2 billion from Deutsche Bank, Volkswagen 4.3 billion for cheating on emissions, Takata 1 billion for defective air bags and Moody's 864 million for the per-crisis mortgage securities.

While most of us will never forget the near collapse of our economy in 2008, it does give me some solace in knowing some of the biggest players will have to pay billions in fines over their part in the financial crisis and others who intentionally cheat this country. I applaud the out going administration for dealing with this before Trump takes over.

Nobscot Plaza

Last night in a packed house at the Heritage Village the Town's administration presented a plan to build 156 unit upscale apartments and retail space on the property. While the idea of talking with residents about the plan was a good one, the meeting was not managed well. The biggest issue was the sound. Most could not hear what the speakers were saying and the residents who are already upset with the owners started shouting out questions. These types of community meetings need to be better produced and managed.

So I think I heard that the property owner pays around 180,000 in  taxes. If built up with apartments and retail space, the property would bring in around 400,000 in taxes. The concerns over traffic are real considering all the new housing being built down the street.

So we are dammed if we do and dammed if we don't. Are we better off just letting the property sit there as is collecting 1800,00 in Taxes with no added traffic and no new influx of kids for our schools or building up that corner with housing, increased traffic and more kids in our schools collecting 400,000 in taxes.

The Charter is final

As per the mission of the Charter Committee, the final draft is going to the Voters in April. What wasn't approved by the commission was term limits.  Also what is not seen yet is the minority report from Teri Banerjee. I hope she gets this out soon as she was the only lone opposition member of the commission that held her ground on the more contentious issues like term limits, the amount of signatures needed to run for elected positions and the power that the Mayor would have in picking all 200 plus positions at City Hall, to name a few.

I for one would not support the draft as I see Town Meeting as the only way to provide the necessary checks and balances that tax payers deserve. It worries me that someone like commission member's  Cardiff, Giombetti or Steffanini were given the keys to so much power.

Public meetings will be held before the election. The dog and pony show will be largely ignored by the residents until it gets closer to the election.  

The bottom line is, do you trust that a Mayor will be better at running the Town than Town Meeting does now. It's your choice.


http://www.framinghamma.gov/DocumentCenter/View/25377

Thanks to our readers

In the 9 years this blog has been live, we've had over 55,000 visitors. While most don't comment, I appreciate all comments from those who wish to do so. This remains the only web site that is 99% free speech. I do still remove any comments that are derogatory towards my family or groups of people that are deemed hateful or discriminatory.

Sunday's Protest

Beacon Hill once again has pulled a fast one on the 1.8 million voters who approved Q4 in November. The main instigator to this slap in the voters face is Senator Lewis from Lexington. He somehow convinced Senator Bruce Tarr from the North Shore and the Senate President Stanley Rosenberg from Amherst and a hand full of lonely State Reps who were working at the State House during the Holiday's, in informal session, pass to the Governor desk a bill to delay Q4. While some seem to think this will be nothing to worry about, I  believe this is the beginning of the end for legalization here in Mass. I'm left with no other choice but to burn in effigy, Governor Charlie Baker, Stanley Rosenberg and Senator Lewis on my front lawn on Sunday.

They had no right to do this. Nothing in the ballot question said that a 6 month delay was part of what voters approved. Beacon Hill once again have proved they don't give a dam what we voters approve at the ballot box.

The fight has just begun for the voters of this State.

https://www.facebook.com/jmpillsbury

 http://framinghamsource.com/index.php/2017/01/08/video-photos-effigy-governor-baker-burned-framingham-protest-marijuana-implementation/