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Boston Cops Go Undercover Online To Crack Down on Concerts
Boston Police, according to an article at Slate, are engaging in a strange use of social media to fight crime. Or at least, to stop raucous music from disturbing the city. As the Slate writer says, "While police departments have been using social media to investigate for years, its use in such seemingly trivial crimes would be rather chilling, if these efforts didn’t seem so laughably inept."
OK, I can see why cops go undercover to prevent murders and bank robberies and such, but to head off noise complaints? Is there some reason why simply to responding to noise complaints isn't enough? Are there no longer any murders, rapes, and robberies in Boston to investigate or prevent? What a waste.
Q: What does the "B." in Benoit B. Mandelbrot stand for? A: Benoit B. Mandelbrot
>"loud rock shows can, in fact, be a nuisance to neighbors, as many of the people who put the shows on will admit. "
Of course they are. In fact, to many people (myself included), such noise in a residential area is not a "trivial crime" at all. But why is it necessary to go undercover? Isn't it easier to wait for a noise complaint, then sent units over to wherever it is and start issuing tickets??
If you read the entire article, there's no proof that cops are going undercover. There's only proof that DIY show producers are paranoid. I'm more inclined to believe the latter.
Joseph Elwell.
I think the point is to stop the noise before it starts. Also, there's a reason why these things are kept to strict venues. You get a lot of young, dumb people in one place getting drunk/high and maybe doing dumb things. It's hard to set up checkpoints to check for drunk drivers, for example, when there's 20 little venues all playing.
Basically people in even small groups are known to do dumb stuff that requires a bit of oversight / public safety. It's like Mosh pits. When they first started there was an etiquette and nobody got hurt. Then dumb frat boys started showing up strung out on drugs and beating the crap out of people. No more mosh pits.
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So, let's get this straight: there's no proof that the police are connected to this, just a half-baked assumption based on someone's analysis of a couple two-sentence emails? And the messages aren't even very funny anyway... ("LOL, he used the word concert . What a loser! Must be a cop!")
Slashdot editors, you need to step up your game.
is all they need for most of these cars running around with the stereo playing so loud the trunk appears to be passing wind.
I'm now wondering what sort of live music scene there is in Boston. Sounds healthy if there's a lot of bands setting up on street corners or in parks.
A feeling of having made the same mistake before: Deja Foobar
This. I don't think the story is accurate but sleep deprivation is used as a literal form of torture for good reason, and can have enormous effects on your health, memory, in a wide variety of areas. It's no laughing matter, no matter how much fun the cool kids are having. Wikipedia says:
Generally, sleep deprivation may result in:[5][6]
aching muscles[7]
confusion, memory lapses or loss[6][8]
depression[8]
hallucinations[8]
hand tremors[9]
headaches
malaise
sensitivity to cold
periorbital puffiness, commonly known as "bags under eyes" or eye bags
increased blood pressure[10][11]
increased stress hormone levels[11]
increased risk of diabetes[11]
increased risk of fibromyalgia[12]
irritability[5]
nystagmus (rapid involuntary rhythmic eye movement)[13]
obesity[11]
temper tantrums in children[5]
yawning[5]
symptoms similar to:
Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD)[5]
Psychosis[14]
There's no reason to go undercover or assign police to track social networking. There's already an early warning system for nuisance loud music -- it's called neighbors. If you get a call that someone is playing obnoxiously loud, that's the only clue you need.
It's not raucous if nobody is disturbed. If someone is disturbed, they'll say. What undercover work is necessary here?
Oliver's law of assumed responsibility: If you're seen fixing it, you will be blamed for breaking it.
If you don't live in Boston then you wouldn't understand why we do the things we do. Have you ever gone driving on the Jamaicaway, walk around Berkley around 3:30pm on a Friday, tried talking to people on the street, parked at an inner city gas station that doesn't even have gas, getting a combo meal at Dunkin Donuts, used the Green Line, get a parking ticket in Beacon Hill for sitting in your car for 3 minutes, or done any of these delightful things in Boston? If you have then you know exactly what I'm talking about. Boston is the city of hate. Everyone from good old Tom Menino down to the foul-mouthed Red Sox fan knows that the primary objective is to maximize annoyance and dysfunction. The police wasting our time and money on this garbage so fits the profile of our fair city that nothing surprises me. If you disagree, then you've never been to the court house in Roxbury or the police station in Jamaica Plain. I can't see how any institutions could be managed worse. Remember the JP clerk that tampered with the evidence of thousands of drug cases? Eh, we'll forget about that. Instead let's try to chum up to some lousy Harvard/young person ideal by using Facebook to do everything. Remember, the crippling failures who are administering essential services in our city are utterly hopeless and need something to distract themselves with, otherwise they'd try to do their job and end up doing more damage. If you've never had a taste of this while living in Boston then clearly you're living under a rock or working for some very insular ultra-elitist academic cell. Say, dood, mind if I come ova to your office and tak about the Patriots? See what I mean?