Thursday, July 23, 2020

COMMUNITY ACTIVIST COMPLEX CATCHES FIRE.

Ryan Carpenter


Im Starting a Go Fund Me Page for Ryan Carpenter. He is a friend and community activist in Brockton that has helped many people in need and at this time needs our support and help.

On Sunday July 19th his apartment building caught fire. Thankfully nobody was hurt. Ryans place was severly damaged as you can see in the pictures. Everything in his place is damaged and you can replace things and most important he is not hurt. Still this past year has been a tough one for him. Loosing his dad one year ago in July 2019.

Anyone that knows Ryan he will be there for you as a friend or a stranger in need of help. Im doing this for him. Its tough times for everyone and knowing how humble he is I know he wont ask for help. Any amount will be very much appreciated.

Thank you all and help Ryan get thru this time.

Here is the Go Fund Me Link.

Thursday, May 18, 2017

NEW DISTRICT ATTORNEY PUBLIC SAFETY BUILDING OPENS DOWNTOWN BROCKTON

District Attorney Timothy Cruz has been leading the way for a consolidated building for his staff and the State police since he came into office. Now it's a reality. The Carpenter administration, along with Cruz, Representative's Dubois, Cronin, Brady and the Baker administration has made this come together.

The State approved $2 million for the building and the building will house more than a dozen State Police personnel from detectives to patrol officers. The District Attorney's office which was currently in four different buildings will bring together 100 of their personnel 166 Main Street which is right across from Brockton District Court.

Crime is down in Brockton and now with a building that will  house the DA office and the State Police in one place will help with faster processing of information and save time for State detective to drive from the various barracks they were stationed in and be at one place and  shortening response time for State detectives to crime scenes and ultimately have an impact on crime and also the economic factor of over 100 people working in one building and using local business services close by.

The perception of seeing police going into a building downtown and having that will hopefully allieve some fears for local businesses and people doing shopping downtown.

This is another win for Baker administration, our local representatives, DA Cruz and the Carpenter administration.

Thursday, May 4, 2017

Campaign Kick-Off for Ward 2 City Councilor Tom Monahan

  • Tom Monahan is going for his fifth run at Ward 2 Councilor. The Campaign Kick-Off is on Thursday, May 25 at 5:30 PM - 8:30 PM
    at George's Cafe Inc, 228 Belmont Street, Brockton, Ma 02301

    One of Tom's biggest and instrumental contributions among many other was to bring back the Walking Beat Patrols a few years back downtown. You will see the Beat Patrols or riding their bikes when weather permits. So come join Tom and ask questions and have a good time on the 25th at 5:30PM at George's Cafe.

Tuesday, May 2, 2017

How Brockton’s Desalination Plant Cost Them Millions

ONE OF THE BEST WRITTEN ARTICLE ABOUT THE BROCKTON DESAL PLANT AND HISTORY

When a prolonged drought threatened its future, the financially strapped city invested millions in a state-of-the-art facility that would turn saltwater fresh—and save the city in the process. That was the plan, anyway.


Inside the building, Aquaria’s machinery performs the difficult task of turning saltwater into fresh. Intake pipes placed in the river—which is partly salty here because of its proximity to the ocean—suck in water and send it through a hollow-fiber ultrafiltration system, which removes pollution and large particles such as algae, bacteria, and soil. The filtered water is then pushed through tubes containing layer upon layer of delicate polyamide membranes, which have pores that are so tiny—one-100,000th the diameter of a human hair—that they trap the salt in a process called “reverse osmosis.” The result is pure H₂O, plus a briny leftover that’s sent back out to sea at high tide. Aquaria, which cost $75 million to build, and which employs the same advanced technology that plants in Abu Dhabi and Texas use to produce fresh water, can generate up to 5 million gallons a day.
On the western banks of the brackish Taunton River, 45 miles south of Boston, sits a windowless one-story building. Located in the town of Dighton, the structure is surrounded by a chainlink fence. Out back, hidden from the road, are three enormous water tanks, each big enough to submerge a house in. Together, they make up a marvel of modern technology: the Aquaria Taunton River Desalination Plant.
After the water is cleaned, it can be pumped through a 20-inch-wide pipeline to Brockton, which lies 16 miles to the north. Brockton paid for most of the plant, which opened in 2008, in an attempt to alleviate the effects of a decades-long drought that delivered such a beating to the local economy that it led to an epidemic of vacant storefronts and even a homeless encampment. The desalination plant was hailed as Brockton’s savior, a project that would revitalize the city.
Today, however, the plant sits idle. In fact, if the Aquaria plant has had any effect at all, it has been to make Brockton’s problems worse. Five years after the facility opened, in 2008, none of the fresh water it produces is reaching the faucets and gardens of homes in Brockton. Instead, the plant produces just enough water to keep its systems working, and then flushes it all down the drain.

By 1900, Brockton had ridden the wave of the Industrial Revolution to become the “shoe manufacturing capital of America.” City leaders, faced with an overwhelming demand for water from factories and a burgeoning population, made the farsighted decision to secure water rights to nearby Silver Lake, a 640-acre body of water. Silver Lake had the best water around. Older residents remember a time when they could see the bottom. The pure, clear drinking water it supplied to Brockton became the envy of the region.
The city’s water troubles started in the 1960s, when a tract-housing boom began to strain the supply, and came to a head during a long drought in the 1980s. Aerial photos taken then show Silver Lake reduced to a puddle surrounded by a dust bowl of dried mud, an environmental nightmare that had repercussions for the entire Jones River watershed in eastern Plymouth County.
At first glance, eastern Massachusetts seems like an unlikely location for a drought. The region receives more than 45 inches of precipitation annually, and the landscape is riddled with ponds and swamps. The truth, though, is that our shallow, porous underground aquifers, as well as our hilly topography, allow the ample rainfall and snowmelt to run quickly into the sea. In 2005, the New England Public Policy Center at the Federal Reserve Bank of Boston issued a report warning that the region could face increasingly severe water shortages.
This was old news to the residents of Brockton, where the situation was so bad that in 1986 the state barred the city from approving any new water hookups until it found more water. The ban meant no one could build. As the rest of the state experienced the Massachusetts Miracle—rising employment and income through the 1980s—Brockton hemorrhaged jobs. Unemployment soared to more than 14 percent by 1991, and the city was on the verge of bankruptcy. “That’s when Brockton started to slide—rapidly,” recalls Jack Yunits, the city’s mayor from 1996 to 2006. “No business could expand here. Companies stopped coming here. With no growth on the tax base, taxes started soaring. Then the layoffs came. Brockton was a mess. By 1995 they were calling Brockton ‘the Beirut of America.’”
The early years of Yunits’s tenure were consumed by the water question. The water commission, which was appointed by the mayor and city council and included three engineers, met several times a month to discuss possible solutions. Wells were proposed, but the city’s groundwater was too polluted. Taking fresh water from the Taunton River, upstream from where Aquaria sits today, was deemed environmentally destructive. At one point, the water commission voted in favor of hooking up to the Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA), a state system that carries water from huge reservoirs in the western and central parts of the state to Boston and its suburbs. But Brockton’s city council was worried about the MWRA’s rising costs, and about paying for projects that didn’t benefit the city directly.
Brockton took conservation measures, but they were seen as little more than a stopgap. Americans were using more and more water, not less, and city consultants predicted that Brockton’s demand for water would grow from 12 million to 15 million gallons a day, far outstripping the capacity of Silver Lake. Brockton seemed to be facing a hopeless situation.
But in 1996, a local utilities engineer named Jeff Hanson approached the city with a radical idea. What if Brockton could get its water from the sea?

The idea wasn’t as crazy as it seemed. At the time, Hanson was working for Bluestone Energy Services, a boutique engineering firm in Norwell, and had been exploring desalination for a few years. In April 1996, Hanson and a colleague named John Murphy laid out their case to the water commission. After explaining how reverse osmosis works, Hanson told the commission that desalination plants had already been built in the southern U.S. and as far north as New Jersey. The only reason desalination hadn’t yet made it up here, he said, was because it was more expensive than the traditional method of using a reservoir to trap precipitation. But Brockton didn’t have any good reservoir options. Hanson said that Bluestone had already negotiated a deal that would allow the proposed desalination plant to buy power at wholesale prices. And the firm already had an option to purchase land on the Taunton River from a local junk collector. Brockton’s water rates would hardly change, Murphy said—a 2 percent increase would cover the cost.
The commissioners were skeptical. William Zoino, an MIT-trained civil engineer and a cofounder of GZA GeoEnvironmental, an environmental-engineering firm, was one of the three engineers on the water commission at the time. He thought a better bet would be connecting with the MWRA, or just drilling a well in a neighboring town. Mayor Yunits wasn’t a supporter at first, either.
But Hanson’s family had helped put the city on the right water path before. His grandfather, a government shoe inspector, had been on the water commission back in the early 1900s, when the city was developing a plan for Silver Lake. A desalination plant, Hanson insisted, would be the city’s chance to get in on the ground floor of a venture that could prove to be a regional asset. City leaders started to come around to Hanson’s logic, swayed by the idea that once Brockton—which had good highway and rail access, along with a capable manufacturing workforce—was water-rich, it could attract industry, perhaps even biotech companies, to the South Shore. And that helped marshal support for the plant, which came to be seen as a way forward for the local economy.

The technology, meanwhile, was viewed as an increasingly viable option in the Northeast. In a 1995 report, the Army Corps of Engineers had included desalination as one of three possible solutions for the South Shore’s water shortages. A handful of communities in Massachusetts and New Hampshire, facing ongoing water shortages of their own, were also exploring desalination.
It took six years of negotiations, but in 2002 Brockton signed a contract with Bluestone, which had joined forces with a Spanish company called Inima that had desalination plants in Europe and the Middle East. They formed a new company called Aquaria Water, but as the plan moved forward, Aquaria struggled with red tape—the company needed about two dozen permits to build the plant and move the water. Delays followed, and costs rose by a quarter, to $75 million.
Aquaria wanted to ensure that it would have at least one steady customer, so Brockton agreed to pay the company $120 million over 20 years, starting with the year the plant went online. With the contract, though, the city was merely paying for the right to buy water. If it decided to actually purchase the desalinated water, then it would be on the hook for even more money, up to $1.23 per 1,000 gallons. The council believed that it would never have to pay all of those costs, however, because neighboring towns would eventually begin purchasing water, too, ultimately lowering the price for everyone.

Brockton’s desalination plant finally opened for business in the summer of 2008, to little fanfare. Water-commission chair Stephen Pike came for a tour, declaring that he found Aquaria to be well managed and brimming with state-of-the-art technology. According to the Brockton Enterprise, each member of the commission received a framed aerial photograph of the plant, perhaps intended to be displayed alongside the dire image of a dried-up Silver Lake from 20 years before. Pike told the newspaper, “If anybody says you can’t build a desalination plant, you’re wrong. It’s there.”
It was there—but by then Brockton didn’t need it anymore. Conservation measures may have once seemed like little more than a symbolic response to the city’s problems, but they wound up doing more to solve the water woes than anything else. Brockton reduced its daily usage to fewer than 65 gallons of water per person—part of an agreement with the state to approve new hookups—and its water department started replacing aging pipes in the 1990s, shoring up a system that had been plagued with leaks. Schools and hospitals were retrofitted with modern plumbing systems, and new building standards were put into place. In 1994 and again in 2010, the city launched projects to fit homes with new meters that kept better track of how much water people were using, allowing the city to send out accurate water bills and encouraging homeowners to turn off the tap. Even the depressing fact that businesses were continuing to leave the area had a silver lining: It drove down overall consumption. Between 1976 and 2012, total average daily water use in Brockton dropped from more than 13 million gallons to just over 9 million, an amount that the city’s existing system could handle without help from Aquaria.
The success of the conservation effort took everybody by surprise. “In retrospect, we didn’t need the desal,” Yunits says, “but we had no choice.” The city ordered 1.5 million gallons of water a day from Aquaria in the fall of 2010 because of low rainfall, but it hasn’t ordered any at all since May 2011, when it conducted a test to make sure the water was still okay. Aquaria today is no more than an emergency backup.
Robert Tannenwald, an adjunct lecturer in public economics at Brandeis and one of the authors of the 2005 climate-change study that showed droughts on the horizon for New England, says that despite technological advances, desalination remains one of the most expensive and energy-intensive ways to get water, and should be an option of last resort. “First, fix the leaky pipes,” he says. “And, if possible, create a couple more reservoirs. That would be more cost-effective.”
Aquaria, with its enormous building and operating expenses, cost overruns, and lack of use, has a parallel in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, which invested in a trash incinerator that’s run up nearly $350 million in debt—another well-intentioned bet on the future by a working-class city that has turned out to be a boondoggle.

More than a decade after the contract was signed, the city of Brockton remains Aquaria’s only customer. Its South Shore neighbors have been wary of the cost, daunted by the required state permitting process, or not in need of the water. Little surprise, then, that the plant hasn’t functioned as the economic generator that the city had hoped. Last year, Brockton got its first new supermarket in a decade, and successfully lured an industrial laundry away from Fall River with a $1 million tax break, but biotech and other forward-looking industries have not appeared.
Today, downtown buildings stand empty, as the Social Security Administration, the IRS, and the Brockton Enterprise have all left their former office spaces for cheaper spots at the edge of town. A vast field of rubble on the north side is all that’s left of the old Howard Johnson’s manufacturing plant. The city government is fiscally solvent, but its infrastructure is crumbling and homeowners are struggling. The foreclosure rate remains the highest in the state, and 7,000 homeowners are underwater on their mortgages. And thanks to the Aquaria contract, the average water bill in the city has jumped 60 percent—from $200 to $320 annually—to pay for water that the city doesn’t use.
Many Brockton residents are demanding that the city find a way out of the contract. “Six million dollars a year going out, and we’re not getting anything in return?” says Ed Byers, a local business owner who has become a leader in the fight against the contract. “Six million a year when we need more police on the street! There’s a real rage.”
The Aquaria plant is not Brockton’s only problem, but it’s an easy target for citizen frustration. And Aquaria itself has done little to win over residents. Sections of its website are still “under construction” nearly five years after the plant opened. When I contacted Aquaria for this story, the company seemed surprised that anyone was calling. Rebecca McEnroe, the project manager I spoke to, told me that the company is complying with the contract “100 percent,” but she declined to answer further questions, or to let me tour the plant.
Last year, Inima, Aquaria’s Spanish parent company, was sold to GS Engineering & Construction, a South Korean conglomerate. Aquaria is losing money despite Brockton’s annual payments, so some city leaders are hopeful that the new owners might be interested in selling the plant to the city at a reasonable price, which would allow Brockton to use it as desired, with no annual fees. If that happened, however, there would still be the question of whether Brockton will ever actually need desalinated water.
Leon Awerbuch, a director of the International Desalination Association, says that Aquaria’s technology is solid, but of questionable necessity. “They put in a really, very good system,” Awerbuch says. But he has little faith that the plant will be needed any time soon—although with climate change, “you never know.”
Hanson, the chief desalination proponent, admits that things didn’t turn out as he’d expected. But he continues to believe in the concept. “It’s the best deal out there, and it’s drought-proof,” he says. “Now, it turns out that their water use went way down. Nobody could have predicted that.”
Brockton’s current mayor, Linda Balzotti, promised last fall to have the city’s legal department look into whether the city could get out of the contract, but just this past March the city’s lawyers concluded that there was no escape hatch.
Balzotti says the Aquaria plant may yet prove to be a good investment. “I understand people’s frustration,” she says. “Here we are now based on a decision that had to be made 15 years ago. So who knows where we’ll be 15 years from now? Maybe it’ll be a whole different place, and everybody’ll be like, ‘Look at Brockton! Brockton did the right thing.’”

Saturday, April 15, 2017

Brockton man, 22, killed in Route 24 crash

Brockton-Brian Charles Jr. age 22 of Brockton was tragically killed in a  single-car rollover accident about 5:20 a.m. this morning on Route 24 south before Exit 17 to Route 123 into Brockton. The gray sedan had extensive damage with its engine was thrown from the car and landed near the median barrier. 

The vehicle a 2012 Volkswagen Passat was determined by State Police to have flipped a few times and caused the engine to fall out of the car and the driver also to be thrown out the car. The investigation determined that the driver was going south and went to the left and struck the median barrier and rolled over.

The family is originally from Haiti, and Brian was a Stoughton Native and graduated from the high schools in 2013.


Friday, April 14, 2017

ROBERT TAYLOR RUNNING FOR 10TH PLYMOUTH DISTRICT

Robert Taylor knows Law Enforcement. He was with MassPort Police for 10 years and worked with the Federal Transit Police, Hull Police force and has been a Deputy Sheriff for Plymouth and Middlesex Counties. He also has been past Presidents of Police Square and Compass.

With immigration being such a hot issue and illegal immigration being the controversy that started when the current Representative for the 10th Plymouth District united a fire storm by  Rep. DuBois posted on Facebook that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) was planning a raid in Brockton, Massachusetts. She included a warning, which read, "If you are undocumented don’t go out on the street. If there is a knock on the door of your house and you don’t know who it is, don’t open the door. I ask you to be careful." This has garnered attention from around the country.

 DuBois stands by what she did, even stating that she was helping immigrants to know their rights and was letting ICE know that their supposed raid in Brockton was compromised. 

Image result for michelle dubois state repMichele DuBois is no stranger to taking on Big Government and as always been a staunch supporter of People's rights and helping people when the Government has overstepped their power. As Ward 6 Councilor in Brockton back in August 2010. Councilor DuBois took on the Water Commission when they were back billing residents up to 10 years for broken water meters that were given false readings. She helped launch one of the largest protest at Brockton City Hall dubbed The Brockton Water Party to contest the illegal billing practices of the Brockton Water Department at the time headed by DPW Commissioner Mike Thoreson.

Some residents literally received a $100,000 water bill. Ayana Cato of Brockton received the largest back billed water bill for $100,000. Many other residents including Robert Ford was billed for water he didn't use and Councilor DuBois stood up against The Commission and also the Mayor at the time Linda Balzotti and fought to get the water meters replaced and was instrumental in helping residents receive rebates and helped put in a system that this would never happen again. 

Many in the community have taken the stance that immigration done legally is fine but illegal immigration is wrong and Robert Taylor is running for the 10th Plymouth District Seat.So  State Representative DuBois has said on record, She is against illegal immigration and criminal and doesn't support that but for people who have been in this country and work 2 or 3 jobs and have abided by the laws and have families, these are the people she is fighting for. Time will tell but one thing Michele is no stranger to tackling issues and conceived injustices in favor of doing what is right for the overall benefit of all constituents in her district.

Thursday, December 1, 2016

Champion Plan

Taking the stigma out of getting help for addiction. A disease that doesn't discriminate. It crosses all races, religion, sex, rich, poor.
If you need help in Brockton no need to fear. Mayor Carpenters Champion provides that help without the stigma. Go to the Police Station and you can get help without repercussions.

http://www.brockton.ma.us/community/champion-plan

Tuesday, September 6, 2016

THE CHAMPION PLAN

*Launches Monday, February 29, 2016 For individuals with Substance Use Disorders (SUDs) and their friends, families and caregivers: Are you struggling with heroin, opioids, or other drugs? Know someone who is?

 IT’S TIME TO GET HELP Mayor Bill Carpenter, the Brockton Police Department, Stairway to Recovery and Brewster Ambulance with support from the Brockton Area Opiod Abuse Prevention Collaborative have created a unique program aimed at getting individuals the help they need.

 How Does it Work? If an individual comes into the Brockton Police Department and asks for help, an officer will ensure the participant is not a danger to themselves or others, and then take the participant to Stairway to Recovery safely. *Those with outstanding warrants are subject to arrest. From here, the participant will be paired with a volunteer “CHAMPION” who will help guide them through the process. We have partnered with the following treatment centers to try and ensure that this individual will receive the care and treatment they deserve – NOT IN DAYS OR WEEKS, BUT IMMEDIATELY.

 Our Partners:
 – Boston VA Healthcare System
 – Gosnold Treament Center
– High Point Treatment Center
 – Spectrum Health Systems
 – Adcare Hospital
– Norcap Lodge
 – Learn to Cope

 ALL YOU HAVE TO DO IS COME TO THE POLICE STATION AND ASK FOR HELP. WE ARE HERE TO HELP. 

Brockton Police Department 7 Commercial St. Brockton, MA 02302 *Brockton Police Department is located atop hill and entrance is facing commuter rail train tracks in the back of the building.
 Hours of Operation:
 Monday 9AM – 7:30PM
 Tuesday 9AM – 5PM
Wednesday 9AM – 7:30PM
 Thursday 9AM – 5PM
Friday 9AM – 7:30PM
Saturday 9AM – 2:30PM
Sunday 10AM – 1:30PM

Thursday, September 1, 2016

HOORAY FOR BROCKTONWOOD

   If you have walked or driven by Frederick Douglas Avenue lately, you may have noticed a lot of work being done on the street and the building. Many people I have asked thought they were just making improvements but when I tell them about a big name director along with some big name actors and that a movie is going to be filmed there, they become excited. The building has new signs or should I say time period signs on storefronts from the late 1960s. One of the signs is TV LAND. When was the last time you saw a storefront sign for TV.

   Kathryn Bigelow is a Big Hit director who won academy awards for her movie The Hurt Locker from 2008. She has been directing since the 1980s and has other hit movies such as Zero Dark Thirty(2012), Point Break(1991) which start Patrick Swayze and Keanu Reeves, Strange Days(1995), k-19.The WidowMaker(2002) and numberous other movies in which most are action and thriller genre. Her latest movie is about the 1967 Detroit riots.


   Taken from Wikipedia "The 1967 Detroit riot, also known as the 12th Street riot, was a violent public disorder that turned into a civil disturbance in Detroit, Michigan. It began in the early morning hours of Sunday, July 23, 1967. The precipitating event was a police raid of an unlicensed, after-hours bar then known as a blind pig, just north of the corner of 12th Street (today Rosa Parks Boulevard) and Clairmount Avenue on the city's Near West Side. Police confrontations with patrons and observers on the street evolved into one of the deadliest and most destructive riots in the history of the United States, lasting five days and surpassing the violence and property destruction of Detroit's 1943 race riot.

To help end the disturbance, Governor George W. Romney ordered the Michigan Army National Guard into Detroit, and President Lyndon B. Johnson sent in both the 82nd and 101st Airborne Divisions. The result was 43 dead, 1,189 injured, over 7,200 arrests, and more than 2,000 buildings destroyed. The scale of the riot was surpassed in the United States only by the 1863 New York City draft riots during the U.S. Civil War,[1] and the 1992 Los Angeles riots. The riot was prominently featured in the news media, with live television coverage, extensive newspaper reporting, and extensive stories in Time and Life magazines. The Detroit Free Press won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage."

 The movie is starring some familiar and hot movie stars of today including Will Poulter of The Revenant, The Maze Runner, We are the Millers, John Boyega of Star Wars:The Force Awakens, Anthony Mackie of The Hurt Locker, Captain America, Triple 9 and about 12 other movies,Jack Reynor of Transformers, Sing Street, Jacob Latimore of The Maze Runner, Hannah Murrav of The Numbers Station, The Chosen and Womb. Filming is expected to start toward the end of September and is expected to last about 6 days. The filming is going to be one of the largest movies filmed in Brockton and they are in need of 300 extra's. CP Casting of Boston is the company doing the casting. So here's to Brocktonwood.

Friday, September 11, 2015

SAINT OF 9/11

I was living in Florida at the time of the 9/11 tragedy. I was taking a shower and heard my roommate yell "Oh my God", Oh my God, look at the fire". I quickly got out of the shower thinking our place was on fire and as I walked in the living room and saw on TV the second plane hit the tower. I knew in my heart that this wasn't an accident and I had a release of emotion that the only other emotion I could compare it to was the death of my parents.

I sobbed so hard and cried for hours and just couldn't comprehend it all. In some weird way it seemed like I was watching a movie. I use to hear my uncles and father talk about Pearl Harbor. At that time in my teens when they talked about it, I couldn't fathom how such a tragedy could bring a nation together. I understand that very well now. Its going on 14 years and it still as real when ever I see the pictures or when this day comes along.

A few years after 9/11 I watched the Documentary The Saint Of 9/11. It is the story of Father Mychal Judge. He was a Franciscan Friar who in 1992 was appointed Chaplain for the New York Fire Department. Father Mychal was known for his work with the homeless and his dedication to the men and women who served on the NYFD.

On September 11, 2001 Father Mychal rushed to the scene meeting then Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. Father was said to be praying over bodies and going into the towers. It has been said that the Mayor said to Father Mychal come with me but Father said "I want to be with my men".

 He went with the Firemen into the North Tower and as the South Tower collapsed He was struck in the head. According to Michael Daly of the New York Daily News, Father was praying out loud, "Jesus, please end this right now, God, Please end this". Then he was struck and died. His body was carried out on a chair stretcher by Firemen and EMS workers. That moment was caught in a photograph by Shannon Stapleton from Reuters.

Father Mychal Judge was the first official victim of the attacks. Even though others were killed before him he was designated Victim 0001 because his was the first body to be recovered and taken to the Medical Examiners Officer. He had over 3000 people attend his funeral and touch thousands of lives during his time on this earth.

All the people who died and gave their lives that day are Saints and I don't think those of us who were older than 10 will ever forget that tragic day in history and in our lives. My prayers are still going out to the families. So on this day I say to everyone. I love you as a human being and I pray that we can live in peace and harmony and whatever differences we may have it is not what defines us but how we treat each other every day.
LJP
BB

Sunday, September 6, 2015

LOOKING BACK ON MAYORS CARPENTERS CRIME PLAN

Looking back when then candidate Bill Carpenter unveiled his 10 point plan, not only has he done everything on his plan but more. We have the latest in fingerprint technology that will allow BPD to get the drug dealers when they give fake names and in seconds we will know if a person is wanted. We have Motorcycles patrols and foot patrols. We have New Police Cadets graduating with another 13 entering into the new class.

In the last few months we have used guerrilla tactics to take down heavy drug dealers and gun runners. We are using the latest in technology with camera's and the new shot spotter. Overall crime is down and we have along way to go but for this Mayor to implement everything he said he would and more and in 18 months this is a great start for Brockton. No other candidate can claim this at all. Tagger can try to frighten us all but it will not work and peace marchers are all great but the real test is respecting the law and when the FBI,ATF,ICE,BPD, Chief and Mayor were all present for a crime meeting and Jacob Tagger made an outburst and yelled" This is a dog and pony show", I know that this type of behavior is indicative of someone who lacks respect for authority and also shows compulsive actions that leads me to believe he would be incapable of developing the relationships we will need with other law departments to make even greater gains in public safety.


http://billcarpenterformayor.com











BROCKTON -- Mayoral candidate Bill Carpenter unveiled his 10-point "Brockton Fights Back" crime-fighting plan to restore safe neighborhoods to the City of Brockton, today telling beleaguered Brockton residents that, "Help is on the way."
"The City of Brockton is at a crossroads. We will either roll over and let the criminals take control of our city or we will fight back. I choose to fight back!" said Carpenter. "We will take back our neighborhoods, block by block."
At the heart of the Carpenter 10-point plan is the following:
1. Relentless Pursuit: We will relentlessly, aggressively pursue, remove and prosecute every gang member, thug, pimp and drug dealer in the City of Brockton.
2. Saturated Enforcement: Increase police presence using motorcycle patrols and deploy traffic units to conduct motor vehicle stops in high gang/high crime areas. Utilize every available resource to take back control of the city.
3. Counter-Insurgency Techniques: Adopt counter-insurgency tactics, similar to those used by the U.S. Military in Iraq, to identify and remove urban terrorists from our neighborhoods.
4. Community Police: Every Brockton Police Officer will be a Community Police Officer, working within the community to establish a partnership with the residents of Brockton to fight crime in every neighborhood.
5. Community Involvement: Establish a Street Leader Program, Neighborhood Walks, and distribute materials to residents in multiple languages. Re-launch and promote a “Text a Tip” program, for anonymous reporting of information to police.
6. Police Hiring Plan: Create an aggressive hiring plan to increase the size of the Brockton PD. Proactive Policing will require more “boots on the ground”.
7. Quality of Life: Utilize City Ordinances to conduct Quality of Life Enforcement Campaigns in target neighborhoods. Enforce Loitering, Public Drinking, and Noise Ordinances. Apply the City’s Nuisance Ordinance to remove graffiti, junk vehicles and secure and clean up abandoned homes.
8. Drug Court: Work with State and County leaders to establish a Plymouth County Drug Court in Brockton. 90% of property crime is committed by people stealing to support a drug/alcohol addiction.
9. Community Forums/Programs: Establish regular community forums, meet with civic associations, faith-based groups and newly organized neighborhood associations. Develop & expand community based programs geared toward young people at risk.
10. G.R.E.A.T Program: Re-implement the G.R.E.A.T Program (Gang Resistance Education & Training) in the Brockton Public Schools as the first step in implementing anti-gang and anti-drug curriculum into our Middle and Elementary schools.
Carpenter also announced on Thursday that former Boston Police Deputy Superintendent Robert Hayden, has joined the campaign as his Special Advisor on Public Safety. Hayden is credited with creating Boston's first city-wide anti-crime gang unit. Hayden is also the former police chief in the City of Lawrence. He also served as Under-Secretary of Public Safety within the administration of the late Governor Paul Cellucci.
"The essence of any successful crime plan is to be relentless," said Hayden. "It is relentless pressure on criminals 24/7. We do that by using every available resource to take control back of the city. You send the message to the criminal element that their actions will not be tolerated and they will be arrested and relocated to a jail cell."
While all the candidates for mayor in Brockton support putting more police officers on the street, Carpenter believes he is the only candidate who has put forth a financial plan to fund the additional boots on the ground.
"I will aggressively develop our water, sewer and electricity resources to generate the revenue necessary to provide real property tax relief and put 50 more police officers on Brockton’s streets." said Carpenter. "The Brockton Police Department is drastically understaffed and there has been no attempt by the Balzotti administration in the past four years to put more officers on the streets.”

LETTER BY MAYOR BALZOTTI IN 2013 ADDRESSING THE RISE IN CRIME

I'm reading Letter from Mayor Balzotti addressing Brocktons recent rise in Crime on Scribd.

What has been done. We have the latest in Fingerprint Technology. We will know in seconds if a person has a warrant. No more "I lost my license". Camera's are going thru out the city. New Shot Spotter. 16 Cadets in total coming on in the next couple months. Motorcycle and foot patrols. New Police Cruiser"s and unmarked cars.

Overall crime is down and Major Drug busts are up. We are making a dent in Crime and don't listen to the one's that scare and scream nothing is being done. The facts are out there and we are doing it.

Check it out: https://www.scribd.com/doc/163934019

Saturday, September 5, 2015

CITY OF BROCKTON FY 2016 BUDGET COUNCIL ORDER ADOPTED

HERE IS THE MINIMIZED BREAKDOWN OF THE CITY OF BROCKTON BUDGET FOR 2016. THE ACTUAL BUDGET IS OVER 400 PAGES LONG AND HERE IS THE LINK FOR IT. PLEASE CLICK HERE AND IT WILL BRING YOU TO IT. ALSO ON THE SCRIBD DOCUMENT ON THE RIGHT SIDE CORNER THERE IS THE MAXIMIZE BUTTON CLICK THAT AND THE PAGE WILL BECOME FULL FORMATED.




BROCKTON CRIME STATISTICS FROM 2001-2013

Crime rates in Brockton by Year
Type200120022003200420052006200720092010201120122013
Murders591061081199969
per 100,0005.39.410.56.310.68.411.79.39.79.56.39.5
Rapes584444524742425361614887
per 100,00061.246.146.154.849.644.144.654.966.064.650.492.1
Robberies204251231233211266199262243232225228
per 100,000215.3262.9241.8245.7222.7279.4211.3271.6263.0245.8236.5241.4
Assaults788767N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A870773858809838
per 100,000831.7803.4N/AN/AN/AN/AN/A901.8836.7909.1850.2887.3
Burglaries7436816656706876736957727501,037815865
per 100,000784.2713.3696.2706.5725.1706.9737.9800.2811.81,098.7856.5915.8
Thefts2,1582,2522,3272,2832,2822,1632,1632,0421,6751,8052,0462,100
per 100,0002,277.62,358.82,436.22,407.32,408.52,272.12,296.72,116.71,813.11,912.52,150.22,223.4
Auto thefts1,2861,1631,085945738662463393445387210224
per 100,0001,357.31,218.11,135.9996.4778.9695.4491.6407.4481.7410.0220.7237.2
ArsonN/AN/A23261722224221193320
per 100,000N/AN/A24.127.417.923.123.443.522.720.134.721.2
City-data.com crime index (higher means more crime, U.S. average = 294.5)570.7562.3552.9541.8522.4516.3490.2521.2509.4536.7479.1538.9


Read more: http://www.city-data.com/city/Brockton-Massachusetts.html#ixzz3krOnXxhz







https://www.fbi.gov/stats-services/crimestats/