The repeated and gross lawlessness by roving gangs of youths who engage in the practice known as a “street takeover” reached its apex two weeks ago in Boston’s South End, culminating in the torching of a Boston Police cruiser by the group of about 100 youths who overwhelmed the two Boston police officers who were first on the scene.
What we are about to say is not a criticism of our police, but rather of the politicIans and policy-makers who have been slow to recognize the gravity of the problem.
There are two things that need to be done immediately. The first is that our law enforcement personnel need to be empowered to have the tools at their disposal both to recognize and to respond with force to these street takeovers.
We won’t even pretend to be experts in law enforcement, but the politicians need to provide the resources for our police to identify when these incidents are happening and then be able to respond in force with the military-grade equipment, including armored vehicles, that almost all police departments have these days.
Municipal and public safety officials also need to devise 24/7 plans for mutual aid for when a street takeover occurs, especially in smaller communities such as Randolph, where a street takeover took place on the same night as the Boston incident.
Ideally, we’d like to see the police use dum-dum bullets to shoot out the windows of the miscreants’ vehicles and lay down those spiky chains to puncture their tires as they try to drive away.
However, what also is needed is a new state law that specifically targets those who conspire to cause these dangerous disruptions to public order. The two young men who were arrested in connection with the Boston incident were charged with plain-vanilla crimes — resisting arrest, assault and battery upon a police officer, malicious destruction of property, and disorderly conduct — that do not reflect the totality or reality of what actually occurred.
In our view, we need a new statute (similar to what the state did 30 years ago when the crime of “tagging” was created to address the widespread practice of spray- painting graffiti). The new law would impose for example, a mandatory loss of license, the impoundment of any motor vehicle used in a street-takeover, and a charge of conspiracy to engage in a street-takeover.
The ancient Romans put it very simply: Let the safety of the people be the highest law of the land.
It’s time that the governor and other politicians put their tough talk into action. Otherwise, perhaps we just might need the National Guard.
