Archive for the ‘Public Safety’ Category

October 28, 2011

BOSTON — Anti-drunken-driving advocates commemorated the six-year anniversary of Melanie’s Law yesterday, urging the Legislature to expand measures to prevent drunken driving to include ignition interlocks.

Mothers Against Drunk Driving joined Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, to remember Melanie Powell, a 13-year-old pedestrian killed by a drunk driver in 2003, and to encourage the passing of an expansion to her namesake bill. The new legislation would require ignition interlocks to be installed on the cars of drunk drivers after their first offense.

Ignition interlocks require drivers to take a breath test before starting their vehicles. The car won’t start unless the driver’s blood-alcohol content is at a safe level.

State law currently requires ignition interlocks to be installed on the cars of repeat offenders.

“If the repeat offender who hit and killed Melanie had an interlock device on her car after her first drunk-driving offense, Melanie Powell would be in college today,” said Ron Bersani, Powell’s grandfather. “Please, remember Melanie and remember every victim of drunk-driving crashes.

Bersani added, “The same thing I said about Melanie’s Law six years ago, I can say today — this bill will save lives.”

The bill is sponsored by Hedlund, who is also the author of a proposal that could lift the state’s ban on free and discounted drinks in bars and restaurants.

His amendment to the casino-gambling bill could bring about the return of happy-hour promotions, which were outlawed in Massachusetts in 1984 due, in part, to concerns about drunken driving.

But Hedlund said the two proposals are not at odds because while removing happy hour did not significantly cut down on drunken driving, Melanie’s Law has.

“Nothing changed until Melanie’s Law came along,” he said. “That’s the first thing we did that had an impact in decades. This interlock bill, I think, will show as much of a dramatic decline in drunk-driving fatalities and arrests.”

Mothers Against Drunk Driving national President Jan Withers called on the Legislature to pass the bill to cut down on what she called a “100 percent preventable crime.”

“We know that the average first-time offender has driven drunk before,” she said. “The most conservative studies show that drunk drivers get on the road at least 80 times before their first arrest.”

Mark Leahy, president of the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, said that to police officers, earlier installation of the interlocks was common sense.

“This, from our perspective, tends to be a blinding flash of the obvious,” he said. “There’s little sense in waiting for a subsequent arrest to put forth technology that’s waiting for us right now.”

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By Marjorie Nesin, Cape Cod Times

Oct. 28, 2011

BOSTON — The family of the girl who inspired Massachusetts’ drunken driving law, is pushing new legislation that would require first-time drunken drivers to “blow before they go.”

Melanie’s Law, named after Melanie Powell, requires repeat drunken drivers to pay to install ignition-interlock devices in their vehicles.

Ron Personi, Powell’s grandfather, spoke for the new law at an event Thursday commemorating the sixth anniversary of Melanie’s Law.

“Over six years, Melanie’s Law has saved countless lives,” Personi said.

Drunken driving fatalities have dropped by 24 percent in Massachusetts since the passing of Melanie’s Law, according to the legislation. Personi said extending the law would save lives and prevent drunken driving.

“If the drunk driver who killed Melanie had had an interlock device in her car after her first arrest, Melanie Powell would be in college today,” Personi said.

In Massachusetts, 3,700 repeat drunken drivers have ignition-interlock devices in their vehicles. Two percent, or 85, of those people have re-offended, according to the bill.

State Sen. Robert Hedlund, R-Weymouth, had been concerned about the effectiveness of ignition-interlock devices before the passing of Melanie’s Law, but is now pushing to expand the legislation.

“I was a little bit concerned about placing our trust in that kind of technology, not having been aware of how successful it would ultimately prove to be,” Hedlund said.

Twenty-seven states, including New York and California, require ignition-interlock devices for all drunken driving offenders.

Northboro Police Chief Mark Leahy spoke in favor of the plan.

“There’s no sense in waiting for a subsequent arrest for technology that is available to us right now,” he said.

Hedlund came under criticism for backing the extension of Melanie’s Law and simultaneously proposing legislation that would allow “happy hour” in Massachusetts bars and restaurants. Hedlund’s proposed amendment to casino legislation would allow restaurants to sell discounted drinks during specific hours. Opponents say that would put more drunken drivers on the road.

He was challenged by one of his constituents during a comment period.

When Kingston resident Erin Brenton was hit by a drunken driver in 1982, her 6-year-old sister died in the crash. She said she is angry that Hedlund proposed the happy hour legislation.

“You can’t advocate for binge drinking (in the happy hour amendment) and then step out and say, ‘I want to be commended for Melanie’s Law,’” Brenton said.

Hedlund said after the ceremony that there is no evidence that a happy hour would create an increase in drunken drivers.

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BOSTON — You can already get a license plate to show support for your favorite New England sports team or for Cape Cod lighthouses.

Now lawmakers are considering specialty plates that would let baby boomers show support for their own generation.

The proposal by Rep. Sarah Peake, D-Provincetown, a baby boomer herself, was one of several bills discussed by the Joint Committee on Transportation, including plans to issue specialty license plates to firefighters and another to redesign plates to make them easier to identify.

Peake’s bill would create a “Baby Boomer Generation” category of specialty plates, available to drivers born between 1946 and 1964. The fees charged for these plates would be distributed to councils on aging throughout the state.

Peake said at a transportation committee hearing yesterday that as her generation ages, there will be a greater need for senior outreach, health care and other programs. The revenue from baby-boomer plates would ease some of the strain on resources faced by local councils on aging.

“As you know, we’re a graying population, myself included,” she said. “Just as they built elementary schools when we were kids and college dormitories when we were young adults, there’s going to be a greater need for the types of services provided by councils on aging.”

By Andrea Aldana, The Patriot Ledger

QUINCY —BOSTON – Quincy was the first city in the state to stipulate that people younger than 18 could not get body piercings – studs, rings and the like – without parental permission.

Now a state representative from Quincy is pushing legislation that would take the rules statewide. Mom or Dad would have to accompany any teen 17 or younger who wanted to get a body piercing, and they would have to sign a consent form.

“Some of the high-risk, blood-borne diseases minors are vulnerable to can be prevented by this legislation,” Rep. Bruce J. Ayers, D-Quincy, said after testifying Tuesday before the Legislature’s Committee on Public Health at a public hearing.

“What this legislation would do is … create a statewide law regulating sanitary body piercing practices,” said Ayers, who filed the bill.

In 1997, Quincy was the first municipality in the state to require parental consent for body piercings. While other cities and town have since followed suit, there is no state law regulating the practice.

The proposed legislation would authorize the state Department of Public Health to implement regulations such as requiring parental consent, ensuring the cleanliness of the facility, proper sterilization and disposal of equipment and requiring education and training for those who perform piercings, as well as mandatory apprenticeship programs, Ayers said.

Mik Miller opened the first body-piercing shop in North Quincy in the summer of 1996. The Quincy City Council passed the age restriction a few months later. During the summer of 1997, Miller’s license to run his shop, Body Xtremes, was suspended for seven days because a 17-year-old Weymouth girl’s navel was pierced even though the girl did not have parental permission.

Ayers was the Ward 6 councilor at the time.

In an interview, Miller said the girl had a fake ID. He said he has since taken courses to distinguish fake IDs.

“I believe the proposals are very good to a point, but Ayers needs to expand them,” Miller said. “There are procedures that are more medical than they are body piercing, like microdermals.”

Microdermals, piercings that are implanted into the skin, are illegal in Quincy. Miller would like to see the state ban them. He also supports greater regulation of home-based piercings.

“There are a lot of people who are illegally tattooing and piercing minors in their homes,” he said.

Miller believes that state legislation would also help enforce regulations in communities where laws exist.

The city of Brockton has regulations similar to those in Quincy and those being proposed statewide. Both cities require parental consent, training for operators, including anatomy and physiology courses, and apprenticeships under a licensed body piercer.

“I think it’s a good thing and it should be the law,” said Kenny Furlong, the piercer at Pins & Needles Tattoo’s & Body in Brockton. “It keeps minors safe. A lot of houses tend to do it illegally, and they don’t know appropriate sterilization techniques.”

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Massachusetts is one of 18 states without laws restricting body piercing on minors.

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By Marjorie Nesin, Cape Cod Times

Oct. 14, 2011

BOSTON — Supreme Judicial Court Chief Justice Roderick Ireland told a gathering of state lawyers Thursday that sharp budget cuts were making it more difficult for the state’s court personnel, but reaffirmed his goal of making the judicial system more responsive to the public.

“I do not underestimate the toll on the courts (resulting from the budget cuts),” he said in his annual address to the Massachusetts Bar Association. “In these difficult times, the court workers are stepping up to do more with less.”

The state court system’s budget was cut by $43 million earlier this year. Last week, the Legislature moved to restore some $12 million. But the reduced budget has forced some of the state’s 37 district courts to cut back on the hours it serves the public.

Much of Ireland’s speech stressed the importance of cooperation among the branches of government and his aim to make the courts more accessible to the public.

“Making the Massachusetts court system more user-friendly is not only a matter of justice. It is just plain good business practice,” he said.

In Massachusetts, approximately 42,000 people go to court every day seeking justice, he said.

Barnstable District Court had planned to close its doors from 1:30 to 3:30 p.m. daily, starting last month, but the court has not cut any hours yet. On Sept. 17, two days before the new hours were to be implemented, Barnstable District Court Clerk Robert Powers announced that the office would take more time to observe how similar hours work in other state courts before adopting the new schedule.

The two-hour window would have given staff a chance to catch up on work including filing, docketing and preparing cases for court sessions without having to answer telephone calls and wait on the public.

The court staff would have remained available for emergency cases such as restraining orders.

Instead, the Barnstable District Court, which had 3,919 criminal defendants and 5,344 civil cases in 2010, will continue to be open from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday.

The idea of cutting hours concerned lawyers, including Richard P. Campbell, the president of the Massachusetts Bar Association.

“The safety of all of us and our standard of living will diminish with the underfunding of courts,” he told the audience.

Ireland acknowledged the work of court staff, calling them “the unsung heroes of the judicial branch.”

Ireland, the first African-American chief justice of the Supreme Judicial Court, stressed the importance of broadening access to justice, especially by including groups of citizens who have been overlooked in the past.

“We must make it possible for … people of color, immigrants, the poor and the disabled to find justice,” he said.

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By Garrett Brnger, Cape Cod Times

April 06, 2011

BOSTON — Summery thoughts of boating sparked heated debate at a Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security hearing Tuesday on proposed regulations for small watercraft and mandatory use of life jackets.

A bill that would allow municipalities to set restrictions for powered personal watercraft on bodies of water smaller than 750 acres in their jurisdiction dominated the hearing.

Representatives of the marine manufacturing industry opposed the bill filed by Rep. James O’Day, D-West Boylston, saying it singled out the small boats known as personal watercraft.

“A PWC is a boat, just a smaller version, and they should be treated equitably and held to the same regulations as other recreational boats,” said Nicole Vasilaros, the state government relations manager for the National Marine Manufacturers Association.

Environmental groups and lakefront residents supported the legislation.

Sierra Club representatives Phillip Sego and James McCaffrey told lawmakers that the small boats pollute the water, harass wildlife and disrupt ecosystems.

“Studies have shown birds stand in six inches of water where they normally eat and can’t even see their prey,” said James McCaffrey, the Sierra Club’s Massachusetts chapter director.

Bridgewater resident Bernice Morrissey came prepared to Tuesday’s hearing, with a six-inch stack of records from the past nine years that document personal watercraft activity on Lake Nippenicket, where she lives.

“They are overbearing, they are unsafe on the waterways, they are built by design to go full throttle … and they do it,” Morrissey said.

Morrissey helped institute a 6 p.m. curfew for use of personal watercraft on Lake Nippenicket in 2009, but she said it is no longer being enforced. The state environmental police refused to enforce the local bylaw, and the local police told Morrissey the lake is not in their jurisdiction, she said.

Other proposals reviewed at Tuesday’s hearing included legislation to require all boaters in vessels under 20 feet in length to wear life jackets and requiring mandatory boater education.

Although the marine industry representatives gave their full support to the mandatory education, the mandatory life jacket bill received no supporting testimony and three lawmaker were openly critical.

“At some point, enough is enough, and we allow adults to make some decisions,” Rep. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, said.

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By Taylor Caroline Bigler, The Patriot Ledger

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BOSTON- A bill requiring boaters to wear life jackets seems to have gone overboard.

The legislation filed by Rep. Vinny deMacedo, R-Plymouth, would require everyone, including adults, on board a boat under 20 feet to wear a life jacket while the boat is in operation.

At a State House hearing Tuesday, the Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security heard from legislators against deMacedo’s proposal.

Some were brief.

“Enough is enough. Adults can make decisions for themselves,” state Rep. Anne Gobi, D-Spencer, said in her short testimony. “I think it’s a ridiculous bill. Thank you.”

State law only requires that enough life jackets for everyone be on board. Only children younger than 12 are required to wear them.

State Rep. Steven Levy, R-Marlboro, echoed Gobi’s opinion. “This is an overreaching bill,” he said.

Committee Chairman Walter Timilty, D-Milton, called for anyone in favor of the bill to weigh in, but no one did.

Read more: http://www.patriotledger.com/archive/x230257984/Mandatory-life-jacket-bill-sunk-by-lack-of-support#ixzz1IkeU6Xpx

By Jaclyn Reiss, MetroWest Daily News

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BOSTON – Local officials and legislators appeared before the Public Service Committee yesterday asking lawmakers to pass a bill that would end Framingham’s coalition bargaining arrangement with public workers and replace it with one that would offer the town substantial savings in health insurance costs.

“Health costs consume everything in its path, gobbling up town revenues for teachers, firefighters and police officers,” Framingham Town Manager Julian Suso said. “This system has caused us to lose these same public servants. The quality of our schools and the public safety of are neighborhoods are being compromised.”

Suso said the town spends about 16 percent of its revenue on health insurance benefits. That’s $33.9 million, and Town Counsel Chris Petrini has said costs are expected to rise by $7.5 million over the next three years.

Without relief, town officials project health costs will represent 25 percent of the budget in 2020.

Getting rid of coalition bargaining could help, but how much would be saved is not known because calculating that is not possible, Suso said.

“To make the leap about predicting future health plans, there would have to be a lot of assumption involved,” he said. “But clearly, savings would be substantial because we’d have the ability to bargain.”

Framingham was one of only two municipalities in the state to adopt coalition bargaining in 1993.

In coalition bargaining, the town must negotiate changes to benefits through the Public Employee Committee, an umbrella organization covering many of the town’s unions. The town currently needs 70 percent approval by that committee for health insurance-related changes.

Under collective bargaining, the town can negotiate with each union, helping its chance to win individual concessions.

Framingham had tried to get around the 87 percent of health care costs it currently pays for each employee by requiring new employees to pay 25 percent of their premiums. But the coalition fought that decision in court, and in January, a judge denied the town’s appeal of an arbitrator’s award made last summer in favor of the committee.

“Only a couple communities in the commonwealth did (coalition bargaining), so there’s a message in that,” Suso said. “If it was broadly viewed as the way to go, it’s very curious that only a couple signed on.”

State Sen. Karen Spilka, D-Ashland, supports collective bargaining, but she said yesterday that it is important to revamp the way municipalities negotiate health benefits for public employees.

“I want to stress that we’re not a Wisconsin,” she said. “We all support collective bargaining rights, but we need to allow tools to our municipalities as well.”

Framingham Town Meeting recently voted overwhelmingly to start the process of changing the health care negotiations to collective bargaining.

“We want to be in the same position as everyone else,” said state Rep. Tom Sannicandro, D-Ashland. “We obviously care about our municipal employees, but it’s also very important to have them bargain collectively.”

Sannicandro said there is no knowing if and when the committee will deliberate the bill and make a decision.

Read more: Framingham officials push for collective bargaining bill – Framingham, MA – The MetroWest Daily News http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1664569303/Framingham-officials-push-for-collective-bargaining-bill#ixzz1G7ORPkfA

By Jaclyn Reiss, MetroWest Daily News

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BOSTON – More than 100 people rallied at the State House yesterday to support White Ribbon Day, Jane Doe Inc.’s effort to raise awareness about domestic violence by asking men to sign pledges to end abuse.

Gov. Deval Patrick kicked off the event with a pitch to keep state spending for domestic violence prevention services at the current level of just over $20 million in the face of a looming budget deficit.

Growing up without a father, Patrick said he learned about manhood from other people around him. He also gave credit to his wife, Diane, who was abused in a previous marriage.

“Being a man has nothing to do with exerting power over other people,” Patrick said. “Being a man is about wisdom, about kindness, about understanding, about the courage of showing your own vulnerability and nothing at all to do with mistreating or hurting or demeaning another person.”

Lt. Gov. Timothy Murray cited figures from the Jane Doe organization that domestic violence murders in the Bay State spiked to 30 in 2009.

“This is a public health issue and awareness is part of it,” he said. “We now come together as men to end domestic violence against women. In any form, it is unacceptable.”

MetroWest has seen its share of domestic murders, including two in the past year: Heather Alleyne in August and Rebecca Bibart in November.

Alleyne, 19, was killed and her body left wrapped in blankets and trash bags in the Framingham apartment she shared with her husband, Kyle Alleyne, 23. He was charged with her murder.

Bibart, 41, was stabbed and beaten to death by her 43-year-old husband Richard Bibart in their Westborough home during a murder-suicide, according to police.

Framingham-based Voices Against Violence is one of the local organizations providing counseling, preventive services, and other forms of assistance to domestic and sexual assault victims.

“The demand for our services has gone up, and what’s difficult for us is to meet that demand,” said Mary Gianakis, director of Voices Against Violence. “Service demand goes up not because economic issues cause the violence, but because they can exacerbate an already violent situation.”

Gianakis said almost all the funding for running the confidential domestic violence shelter, staffing the 24-hour hotline and conducting supervised visitation services comes from the state.

“To maintain those core services is critically important to the people we serve in our community,” she said. “The governor’s commitment to hold that means we can continue to save lives.”

However, the organization had to face a 25 percent cut to its sexual assault services in 2009 because of state budget cuts.

“It devastated us,” Gianakis said. “We had to reduce hours of rape crisis service, reduce support groups we can provide, and reduce community outreach and prevention.”

Marlborough Police Detective Martha Shea said between November and the end of January, the department counted 78 incidents of domestic abuse. The department had to hire an additional detective to investigate the cases.

“The follow-up gives us the ability to make sure the victim is aware of services that are out there, and to take a much broader look at the relationship,” Shea said. “We’re going to get more in-depth because we have the time to do that.”

Westborough Police Chief Alan Gordon said his department sees about five cases of domestic violence per month. For all the reported cases, he said, many go unreported.

“The perpetrator may be the primary supporter of family, and if they report something and this person gets incarcerated, the victim thinks, ‘How will I support myself and family if they are unable to work?”‘ Gordon said.

To reach the Voices Against Violence 24-hour hotline, call 508-626-8686 or 1-800-593-1125.

Read more: Campaign enlists men to stop domestic violence – Framingham, MA – The MetroWest Daily News http://www.metrowestdailynews.com/archive/x1923551119/Campaign-enlists-men-to-stop-domestic-violence#ixzz1Fdvq99j3