FPD Body Cam update

 

On 5.13.23 I attended a public finance-subcommittee meeting. A rare event on a Saturday. See blog post May 8^th, DPW, FPD, Park&Rec. I was asked to be brief and was lucky I was given 10 minutes to ask questions and to give Chief Baker a copy of the state grant application. And I am glad I did since the Mayor or the Chief ever saw it before.

See at 1:46:00 http://vod-framingham.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/2843?channel=1  

In the budget, under small capital lurked appropriations request for buying 8 vehicles, but postponing 4 at 65k each, 100 tasers and 200k for a pilot program for 20 body cams. The total was 571k. Pushing FPD budget to almost 20 million.

Fast forward to this past Wednesday’s finance subcommittee meeting. I did not check the meeting portal for any new updates before the meeting, which I should have and had egg on my face when I learned the finance subcommittee made a 250k cut in FPD budget yesterday before the meeting.

So now FPD will apply for the state grant to buy the body cams… hopefully all 100. And use free cash if the grant falls through. You can bet I will be watching.

I thank the finance subcommittee for listening to the tax payers and doing the right thing for us in requesting FPD use the state grant to buy the body cams.

 

Chemo therapy and nausea

 If you know someone who is receiving chemo therapy for cancer, you know of the side effects for the patient and family members. Nausea is common place after the treatments along with other painful symptoms, but nausea effects your diet and recovery.   There are pharmaceuticals that are prescribed but it is hard to keep anything in your stomach let alone a single pill.
Recently I have witnessed the positive effects of an all-natural, nontoxic, liquid remedy call CBDA. This product (in a spray bottle) was used once before a meal and once after a meal, with great success. CBDA is part of CBD you hear about helping patients in various ways.  
 

Cannabis Pioneer Raphael Mechoulam spent a lifetime researching cannabis and is credited with discoveries that will be used for decades in medicine. 

https://unitedpatientsgroup.com/blog/rip-cannabis-pioneer-raphael-mechoulam-november-1930-march-2023/
 

There is a ton of peer reviewed papers written about CBD, CBDA. Many more studies will be carried out over the next few years.
 

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7321064/
 

As we speak, drug discovery companies are racing to figure out what drugs can be made from CBD.
 https://www.gvbbiopharma.com/cbda-guide/


Please note. I am not profiting in any way shape or form of sales of this product. I do not pretend to be a medical professional giving advice to anyone for any reason. I am not financially involved in any company that sells CBD. I am one of the few in this state who helped bring the end of marijuana and hemp prohibition. The cannabis retail industry is now generating over 4 billion in sales. And today, small family farmers are growing hemp for its medicinal properties, projected to be worth hundreds of millions. And there are thousands of patients who are benefiting from medicinal marijuana.

DPW, FPD Park&Rec budget review

 

One of the promises made to Framingham voters by the Charter Commission some years ago was to hold public meetings about the budget process. In the good old bad days of Town Meeting anyone could ask any elected or appointed official questions about spending. Since becoming a city, less and less time reviewing budgets is now normal practice. Maintaining the status quo, is now the status quo. Take last Saturday’s budget review of three major divisions. One resident who was asked to be brief, was allowed 10 minutes to ask questions and that was it. Since there has been no meaningful financial oversight of the police department since becoming a city from the Finance subcommittee or the administration, reviewing the police department budget is left to concerned residents to do the “check and balance” work promised by the charter. The charter folks promised to dig deeper into the budgets, look for efficiencies and increase transparency and accountability. FPD’s overtime budget, which has increased from 1.3 million in 2023 to 1.8 million for 2024 without real tangible explanations, is troubling. Police OT abuse has run rampant among all types of law enforcement agencies across the state and should have been scrutinized more closely here in Framingham. In the FPD small capital budget, lumped in with purchasing 4 cars are 100 tasers are 20 body cams for a pilot program. And the explanation of why only 20 body cams was less than credible along with reasons to replace cars. The math is fuzzy and constantly changing for some reason. Since the Mayor, CFO and Police Chief ignored grants that could have helped pay for the body cam program, taxpayers will be forced to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars this fiscal year and again in 2024 when the rest of body cams will be purchased. The foolish foot dragging around body cams is well noted by residents. Framingham lags 36 other communities, including the State Police, that have body cam programs in place already, many without pilot programs. Tax payers are being fleeced by our own local government. If we want transparency and accountability from our police department, we will be forced to pay extra taxes, in lieu of a grant,  to achieve that goal. We are forced to rely on our gullible finance subcommittee members who are not the least fiscally curious and are running for reelection, just believing every word that comes from FPD without any fact checking. And on a sunny Saturday in May, who wants to be inside reviewing budgets anyway. Where are the check and balances we were promised?

Have a look for yourself. 1:17:00 to 1:55:00

http://vod-framingham.cablecast.tv/CablecastPublicSite/show/2843?channel=1