Tuesday, April 27, 2010

New BPD News site

Wanna keep up on crime and the Boston Police Department? The new BPD News web site has been freshened up and now has a wealth of information. You can also find links to the following sites form the BPD News Home page.

General BPD information




connect to NeighborsforNeighbors web site - a unique web site to connect neighbors together (just starting up - could be interesting!

Crime Reports - see an interactive map of your neighborhood and the location of all reported crime

Visit the site, and keep in touch with your community!

911 - the Boston users guide


We always encourage residents to call 911 to report any suspicious activity. but many people are afraid to call, associating 911 with "life and death" emergencies. Boston does things a little different. Read on to find out how Boston's 911 system works and how it can be our neighborhood's best friend.

First the numbers:

911 - Call this from your home/landline phone. This will connect you to police, who will be able to automatically see your home address as soon as you call.

617-3434-911 - To contact 911 from your cell phone. Put this number in your cell phone. Right now before your forget. I'll wait. OK - great. When you dial 911 from a cell phone you are sent to the State police, who will have to transfer you to Boston police. the 617-343-4911 number will get you directly to Boston Police. (smart phones are supposed to route 911 calls to the town from where you are calling, but that doesn't work most of the time.

How 911 works

In Boston, the 911 operator is the only way to get a police car dispatched. if you called the police department directly, you just get a desk office who can't dispatch a car. So while you still call 911 for the life-and-death stuff, you also call 911 for those loud parties, being blocked in by a double parker, or if you see some shady characters ducking into a dark alley.

Boston and BPD has set up 911 to work this way. Do not feel strange or embarrassed to call 911 for 'trivial' matters.

When you call 911 the dispatcher will answer "Is this an emergency". If it is not an emergency, then just answer "No". They'll then ask what the issue is and take your information. They will not yell at you for calling 911 if your call is about safety or any other neighborhood issue.

Why it's important

When people call 911 they picture a police car screaming down the street to answer your call. The truth is it could be a half hour before police show up, or they may not show up at all. (If it's a real emergency, everyone will show up - don't worry). What 911 does is prioritize calls. Emergencies get top priority. The loud party gets a lower priority. 911 takes all the calls, and dispatches police to the most important calls first. if it's a busy night (like the weekend) some of the low priority calls may never get an office responding.

But that doesn't mean your call has been ignored.

Every call is logged in and kept track of. They follow these calls over time to look for trends and hot spots. This data is looked over by local BPD chiefs, BOD overall, and City Hall. You think your one call about suspicious activity may not be worthy of a 911 call. But many calls about suspicious activity in the same area will start setting off flags in the BPD data, and let Police know something is up.

Many years ago the power went out in my apartment. After 20 minutes I finally called the electric company to ask when the power is coming back on. She said they didn't even know the power was out. Like me, everyone else just assumed 'someone else' called it in. Needless to say if power goes out I'm on the phone instantly to report it.

Crime is the same way. At a recent crime meeting someone said they see a lot of drug use in their neighborhood and why aren't he police doing anything about it? The police's answer? We have no reports on drug use in that area. And that's the issue. If no one calls, then they don't know what's going on, and can't do anything about it.

The bottom line?

If it doesn't look right? Call it in! Suspicious characters going into an alley? People drinking in the garden? Even if it's not your home. Walking to work and see a car window smashed? Call it in - it could be days before the owner sees it, and it could be the start of a crime wave. Complaining to your friends and neighbors is a nice way to vent, but unless you report it to 911, it's like it never happened.

So report, report, report. And if you didn't put the 617-3434-911 number in your cell phone earlier, do it now!

Safety discussion at May ESNA Meeting


Hi Everyone,

The next Eight Streets meeting is a little over a week away. This month we're going to have a focus on neighborhood security and safety.

Last year Eight Streets worked with Old Dover and Boston Police (BPD) to try to tackle a drug problem that had moved into the area. Unfortunately, as good a job as BPD was able to do, the Spring has brought a resurgence of the problem. What we're seeing this spring is an increase in Drug sales in the Old Dover neighborhood, near Washington/East Berkeley/Harrison area. And with drug sales comes drug use. We're seeing those who want to use or just hang out starting to congregate in Peters Park, Berkeley Garden, and in our ESNA walkable alleys.

At our May meeting, BPD Community Officer Sgt. Provenzano will join us with members of his team. We'll discuss some of the issues we have in the neighborhood, how BPD is working with ESNA and Old Dover to help tackle the problems, and what steps residents can take to ensure our neighborhood remains safe. We hope you'll be able to join us - watch this space for the official meeting notice this weekend.

In the meantime, just remember to always keep an eye out for suspicious activity. Remember to lock your doors, and don't leave valuables in your car. Use your common sense, and report suspicious activity to police. (more on that in the next blog entry).

Thanks to Dave and Jodi who are stepping up and taking an active role in ESNA and helping out with Safety. Many of you have seen their flier in your door, and I look forward to having them continue to work with BPD and Old Dover. And a nice warm ESNA welcome to those visiting the blog for the first time after seeing their flier! I hope to see you at the May meeting!

Monday, April 26, 2010

Friends of SE Library annual meeting

The Friends of the South End Library will hold its annual meeting, and vote in a new board, on May 4 at 6:30 PM at the South End Library.

For more details on this and related matters, such as the Save our Libraries update, as well as pictures of our April 4 Easter Egg Hunt, please visit our web site at www.friendsofsouthendlibrary.org .

Regards,

Marleen Nienhuis

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Boston Shines this weekend

A reminder that Boston Shines cleanup is this Saturday (4/24). While we don’t have a neighborhood-organized cleanup, feel free to clean up your own space, or get together with your neighbors and clean up your section of the block.

If you need some tools, the city will have brooms, shovels, rakes, gloves, and trash bags available to be borrowed from 9am to 1pm. Just stop by the BCA Plaza.

If you want to clean up your sidewalk of dirt and tree droppings, sweep it into the middle of the street – street sweepers will be making the rounds throughout the day. (of course, bag your trash, don’t sweep it into the street)

The city will also pick up trash until noon on Saturday. Leave bags of trash you have collected on a corner so the DPW can easily see the bags. Now remember this is trash you’ve cleaned up from outside – this is not a chance to clean out the basement and attic. DPW won’t take your junk (sorry).

We hope the sunshine will inspire you to take some time to help clean up on Saturday morning!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Watch what is in your car

From time to time the neighborhood has the occasional car break-in. Usually someone has left their GPS or Laptop in the car, and it was just too tempting for a thief to pass up.

Well, police recently arrested those responsible for a series of break-ins in Roxbury and JP. I urge you to read the article found here. Now this news isn't very exciting, and it wasn't in our neighborhood. But the article has several pictures of the stolen items laid out on tables to show what thieves take.

Effectively, they take anything not nailed down. And some stuff that is nailed down (shift know and amplifier in the pile). Moral of the story - don't leave anything in your car that you would miss if stolen. Again, take a look at the pictures - they take some really stupid and worthless stuff...

Monday, April 12, 2010

Ringgold Park Fountian Meeting

Dear Friends of Ringgold Park,

Exciting news - the Parks Department is convening a public meeting to discuss the center circle fountain design. Please mark your calendars, line up a sitter if necessary, and join us to make your voice heard! We will be meeting at 6:30 pm on Thursday, April 29, in the second floor computer lab at the Blackstone Community Center. The Parks Department will be publicizing this meeting by distributing flyers to neighbors of the park.

Some of you may have noticed that the Parks Department recently removed the swing in the small tot lot. Its foundation had become unstable in the recent rainstorms, and it was clearly a safety hazard. Replacing it has been added to the scope of work for our general capital improvements. And the upcoming public meeting is a great opportunity to find out when it will be replaced!

Thank you to all the volunteers who pitched in to clean up the park and run our annual spring Egg Hunt last weekend, particularly the Effgen Family, the Mullin Family, Conrad Ello, the Weiss-Currys, Rebecca Schulman, and Beth Prindle. The weather was gorgeous and a great time was had by all! Attendance at the cleanup, however, was very low, and although our group worked for over 3 hours, we didn't get through all the areas of the park that need to be cleaned. In the past Hope House used to send over a group of energetic volunteers, but now For future cleanups, FORP is seeking to partner with a corporate entity that would like a community service opportunity. Our cleanups happen twice a year - prior to our Halloween event, and prior to our spring Egg Hunt. If you know of a company or school that would like to help us out, please let me know!

Lastly, while you have your calendars out, please also mark Monday, May 10 at 9:30 to join Mayor Menino in Ringgold Park! This is our opportunity to demonstrate how important this project is to the community, and to show off our new plantings and irrigation system. I hope to see you there!

Thank you as always for your support.
Claire Corcoran
President, Friends of Ringgold Park

Tuesday, April 06, 2010

Dover St

The Globe today had an article on the effort to rename East Berkeley back to Dover St.

Monday, April 05, 2010

April ESNA Business Meeting

Happy Spring everyone,

Hopefully you won't be seduced by our warm weather and be able to attend our monthly business meeting this week on Wednesday April 7th. We'll be at our usual location at the Boston Ballet's 5th floor board room

Meeting format:

6:30-7 - neighborhood networking. Informal get together - meet your neighbors and catch up on all the good gossip
7-8:30 - Business meeting.

This month's agenda includes:

- Owner of 43 Dwight street. Planned balcony on rear and roof deck. Seeks vote of support from neighborhood.

- Owners of The Wholy Grain, who are looking to open a bakery/deli at 275A Shawmut (corner of Hanson). They are seeking a vote of support from the neighborhood, but I've yet to confirm the technical details (not sure if they've got a city rejection letter and need NA support, or if they'd like a general support letter). Complete details will be available at the meeting, but if you're an abutter or know an abutter, make sure they're at the meeting.

- On a similar business note, Pops restaurant will be here for an informal neighborhood gathering. Many restaurant issues came up at their previous meeting concerning noise, rear of building situation and issues with the sidewalk front. There is a new manager at Pops and they have taken immediate steps to address many of the issues as presented. There is no vote - they will be presenting some of the changes they have instituted, and want to continue a dialog with the neighborhood. Again, abutters are encouraged to attend. While western abutters from UPNA have been invited to come in the past, Pops has already attended an UPNA meeting covering the same topic, so I'm hoping they have had a chance to have this discussion at their meeting, and that this meeting will include more Eight Streets members.


We've got a full meeting, and I hope all of you can make it. Tell your neighbors and bring a friend - help the NA grow!

- John Mc


_________________
John McLachlan
President, Webmaster
Eight Streets Neighborhood Association
South End (Boston) MA
http://eightstreets.org
http://eightstreets.blogspot.com

Sunday, April 04, 2010

The city continues to embrace the digital age

You can now follow the City on twitter. The Mayors Office of Constituent Engagement is posting city updates regularly to Twitter.

You can follow them at http://twitter.com/NotifyBoston

Reminder - Street Cleaning has begun

A reminder that April 1 brought the return of street sweeping days. On street cleaning days and hours you must move your car from the street or risk being ticketed and/or towed.

ESNA streets fall on a Monday and Thursday schedule, but you may park outside our neighborhood, so remember to read street cleaning signs before parking your car on the street.

Thursday, April 01, 2010

Ringgold Park cleanup

Join the Friends of Ringgold Park on Saturday (April 3). Enjoy the beautiful weather while you help tidy the park for Easter and get it ready for Spring!

Saturday, April 3
Noon-2pm
Ringgold Park

Friends of Ringgold Park newsletter; Sp 2010

Dear Friends of Ringgold Park,

The buds on our new shrubs are swelling, Easter and Passover are right around the corner, and spring is in the air! Below are some important dates for your calendar.

The Friends of Ringgold Park will host our annual Spring Egg Hunt on Sunday, April 4th at 10 am in the park. Please note: we will ask that children not enter the park while we are setting up the egg hunt from 9 to 10. This family event is appropriate for all ages, as different areas of the park will have eggs hidden at different levels of difficulty. Please join us for this annual celebration of spring.

To prepare for the event, on Saturday April 3, we will host our Spring Cleanup of the park from 12 to 2 pm. Join us to spruce up the park for the egg hunt! Pizza and drinks, rakes and gloves will be provided.

Although the center circle appears unchanged, our capital improvement project is moving along! The City of Boston has contracted with Copley Wolff, the landscape architects who helped us develop our fountain concept, to provide detailed construction specifications. As part of this process, we will be working with Copley Wolff on scheduling a series of public meetings to get further input from the community. Stay tuned for dates!

An important part of this process is advocacy from the community of park users. On Monday, May 10th from 9:30 to 10:30 in the park, we have a critical opportunity to bend the Mayor's ear about our important issues! Please join us at the Mayor's Park Coffee Hour in Ringgold Park to ask for continued investment in improving Ringgold Park. We worked diligently to raise private funds to install the new plantings and irrigation system. This is our chance to show off our most recent investments to the Mayor. At this coffee hour, we will be ask the City of Boston to invest in 1) Big Belly trash compactor cans for the park; 2) permanent low cast iron fencing along the edges of the shrub beds to protect the plants and prolong their lives; and 3) our center circle fountain project, which also includes resurfacing of the play areas with safety foam.

If you find yourself at Polka Dog Bakery, please thank them for sponsoring our Dog Waste Pickup Bags! They have generously provided both the refill bags and their storage.

Thank you as always for your support, and see you in the park!

Claire Corcoran
Friends of RInggold Park