The Boston business sector is lobbying the City Council to accept millions of dollars in grant funds for the Boston Regional Intelligence Centre, claiming that the money is necessary to “quell recent violence” that has put public safety at a “crisis point.”
The president and chief executive officer of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce, James Rooney, penned a letter in support of forwarding $3.4 million to fund the BRIC. This money has been authorised by the state for the past four years, but it has been held up by the council. Rooney’s letter can be found here.
On Wednesday, three weeks after rejecting three grants totaling $850,000 that were intended for the BRIC, the City Council is poised to decide on whether or not to provide financing for the intelligence branch of the city’s police department. The mayor later applied for a fourth award in the amount of $850,000.
“The Chamber continues to hear from concerned workers, residents, community leaders, business owners, and the broader public about the recent rise in shootings and violent incidents,” Rooney wrote in a letter to the Council. “The Chamber is concerned about the recent rise in shootings and violent incidents.” “Funds for appropriate and necessary technology utilised for anti-crime and emergency response will help address the violence in all of Boston’s neighbourhoods,” the statement reads, “will help address the violence in all of Boston’s neighbourhoods.”
Rooney stated that the cash would strengthen “data-driven policing that will support the highest quality of life and a healthier business climate.” His letter claims that there was a 7% rise in the number of crimes committed in downtown Boston during the first half of 2023.
Nearly 150 calls were made to the Boston Police Department from the Macy’s department store in Downtown Crossing during the course of the previous 19 months to report disruptions, threats, and acts of violence. According to the letter, there have been ongoing shootings and acts of violence in other areas, and these cases have not been handled.
According to what Rooney stated, “Community leaders have expressed that the safety and well-being of the public is at a crisis point,” and “funding for police is needed to quell recent violence.”
The BRIC awards, which would be distributed between the fiscal years 2020 and 2023, would be used to improve technology that is used in the fight against crime, gangs, and terrorism. During a meeting before a committee of the City Council on Friday, the Police Commissioner Michael Cox stated that it would enable the department to hire eight analysts.
In light of the criticism voiced by councillors with a progressive political orientation and members of the community during the hearing that took place one week ago, the Chamber of Commerce joined Mayor Michelle Wu and City Council President Ed Flynn in posturing before of Wednesday’s vote on the BRIC awards.
The majority of the criticism directed its attention towards the BRIC’s gang database, which some individuals consider to be racially unfair because it focuses disproportionately on tracking people of colour.
Even though Rooney’s letter was delivered to the Council on Thursday of last week, it was not made public until Monday on one of the Chamber’s social media pages. The office of Mayor Wu has distributed a copy of a letter that Mayor Wu delivered to the City Council on Tuesday, in which she explains why she has reversed her previous stance against the BRIC, which included voting against a grant of $850,000 in 2021.
The awards will be approved on Wednesday, according to the statement that was released by Flynn’s office, which also stated that the council president supported the grants. In the vote that took place a month ago, Flynn joined Councillors Frank Baker, Liz Breadon, Michael Flaherty, and Erin Murphy in approving the proposition.
The mayor’s letter contains statements that are similar to those she made during an appearance on the radio the previous week. In her article, Wu explained that the new leadership at the city’s police department as well as efforts to clear names from the BRIC’s gang database that were no longer relevant drove her to reconsider her previous opinion.
In his campaign for the office of mayor, Wu voiced his approval of eliminating the BRIC and doing away with the gang database.
According to the letter sent to the mayor by the city manager in 2022, new regulations were implemented in 2021 that required the Boston Police Department to delete inactive individuals on a regular basis. As a result, 609 names were removed from the database in 2021, and 1,836 names were removed in 2022. In addition to this, Wu referred to a law passed by the city that established the Office of Police Accountability and Transparency.
“We must invest in public safety intelligence and analysis in order to most effectively deploy our investments and resources to reduce gun violence and other types of crime within our neighbourhoods,” Wu said. “This will allow us to reduce gun violence and other types of crime in our communities.”
During the hearing that took place on Friday, Councillor Julia Mejia, who had previously advocated for the elimination of the BRIC in 2021, asked the mayor to provide an explanation “on the record,” stating that if the mayor did not do so, she would not even consider voting in favour of the funds.
“Many of us do not believe that BRIC is operating with the best intentions of Black and brown and Muslims and people of diverse experiences,” Mejia added. “We have diverse experiences, and we are people of colour.” “We do not have the evidence that affirms us, that makes us believe that you have our best interests in mind. This leads us to believe that you do not have our best interests in mind. This is not a discussion about a problem with the police. It is a matter of the civil liberties of the people.”
Councillor Ruthzee Louijeune shared the same opinions as previously stated. She stated that she could not see any reason to trust the data that the BRIC was gathering and cited previous court judgements that had been issued against the gang database.
However, according to Cox, the work that is being done by the BRIC that is driven by statistics “is not about vilifying people of colour.” Finding “the people who are driving the crime, violent crime in our city, and keeping track of that information” is the main focus of this endeavour.
