In recent weeks, Mayor Michelle Wu of Boston has been under fire for what appears to be a U-turn on grant financing that will assist the Boston Regional Intelligence Centre. The centre, also known as BRIC, is a data analysis facility that houses a number of different databases, one of which is Boston’s gang database, which contains suspected members of gangs.
The database has long been accused by detractors of being racially discriminating and of making it possible for civil liberties to be violated. As a member of the City Council in 2021, Wu cast her own vote against providing funds for the BRIC.
On Friday, the awards were the topic of a contentious meeting before the City Council, during which Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox and other individuals provided an explanation of how the cash will be utilised and argued for the necessity of the grants.
At the meeting of the City Council on Wednesday, consideration will be given to awarding four grants with a combined value of $3.4 million. Following the hearing on Friday, Councillor Michael Flaherty, who chairs the Committee on Public Safety and Criminal Justice, made the recommendation that the awards should be authorised; however, it is probable that staunch opposition will continue.
In the letter that Wu delivered to City Council on Wednesday morning, she provided an explanation for why she is now supporting the funds, despite the fact that in the past she had opposed them.
“I didn’t want people to just think, ‘Oh well, she said some stuff as a councillor, and now that she’s mayor and she has to say some other stuff,'” Wu mentioned this to the host of “Java with Jimmy” on Wednesday morning. Jimmy Hills. “From the time that I took office as mayor until September of 2023, we did not submit any applications for these grants. There was a justification behind that action. I wanted to be absolutely certain that any funds that we are using will actually go to help and make a difference, so I conducted extensive research.
