Boston police union president blames "lack of prosecution" for violence against officers
The president of the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association said the torching of a Boston police cruiser during a "large-scale vehicle takeover" in the South End early Sunday is the latest evidence of escalating violence towards police.
"If I drove into that gauntlet and I was rushed by 30 or 40 people who were kicking, smashing the window, beating the cruiser, setting it on fire, yeah, I would be scared. I'd be scared for my life," said union president Larry Calderone. He calls it a trend.
"We had a couple of officers that were attacked at a local school. We had a couple of officers that were attacked and physically assaulted at the MGM Theater. We had a police officer that was shot not so many weeks ago."
Calderone blamed the problem on a "lack of prosecution" and argued that the South End incident was "premeditated."
"If we're wrong and it's just teenagers acting out, so be it. But I'm not going to wait for somebody to get hurt before we say something publicly," he said. "Maybe the legal system isn't doing enough to make them shy away from that."
Suspects released on low bail
The two suspects arrested after the incident early Sunday morning, Julian Bowers, 18, and William Cantwell, 19, were both released on low bails of $500 and $1,000 after prosecutors called for $15,000 and $20,000, respectively.
Are softer penalties for young people leading to more crime?
WBZ-TV looked at Boston Police disorderly conduct arrests from 2020 to 2024. The arrests were not broken down by age, but the arrests rose slightly from 155 in 2021 to 221 last year.
Northeastern criminology professor Dan O'Brien said there has been a movement to soften penalties against young offenders but that doesn't necessarily impact teen criminal behavior.
"I'm going to bet you the vast majority of the young people who were involved never even considered whether likelihood of prosecution or intensity of bail or sentence or what have you," O'Brien said.
Both men were charged with assault and battery on a police officer. That's a misdemeanor in Massachusetts.
