State Police to Crack Down on Texting While Driving
Texting while driving has been illegal in Massachusetts since 2010, but police around the country have said the law is difficult to enforce. Forty percent of Massachusetts drivers say they still text while driving despite a nearly three-year-old law banning such activity and preventing any cell phone use for drivers under 18 years old, according to a poll conducted by Plymouth Rock Assurance. With the help of a federal grant, Massachusetts State Police will begin a statewide crackdown on the illegal and dangerous practice in June. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has awarded the state a $ 275,000 federal grant to increase enforcement of the Safe Driving Law, which bans the sending, typing or reading of electronic messages to or from handheld devices while operating a motor vehicle and a complete ban on the use of all handheld electronic devices by junior operators while behind the wheel, according to a state police press statement Tuesday. The law was enacted in Massachusetts on Sept. 30, 2010. The program, called “Text With One Hand, Ticket In The Other,” will make use of a “high visibility enforcement” model which uses informational road signs, command posts other tools which make the enforcement obvious to the public, according to the NHTSA website. This specialized enforcement will take place in two to four week intervals over the next two years, according to the police statement. The first installment will occur from June 10-29 on state roadways in Andover, Dracut, Dunstable, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, North Andover, North Reading, Reading, Tewksbury, Tyngsboro and Wilmington. A recent National Safety Council study has shown that nationwide, 24 percent of all crashes are related to the use of handheld electronic devices while driving, the statement says. As many as 3,000 deaths per year are caused by distracted driving, according to Boston Medical Center. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch
House Looking to Crack Down on Sex Offender Crimes with Online Database
The recent state auditor report revealing that a large number of sex offenders live at addresses registered as childcare facilities has added fuel to the effort on Beacon Hill to publicize the names of all those who’ve committed sex crimes. “The auditor’s recent findings should serve as a catalyst to pass targeted legislation which protects the Commonwealth’s citizens from dangerous sex offenders,” House Minority Leader Bradley H. Jones Jr. (R-North Reading) said in a statement Wednesday. “The report published today is an unfortunate example of why comprehensive sex offender legislation I filed will, in part, open the lines of communication between the Department of Early Education and Care and the Sex Offender Registry Board.” Jones’ bill is one of three now in the House that propose changing state law to make the names of lower-level offenders available either online or at a police department. Currently, only the names of Level 3 offenders, who are deemed by the registry board to be the most likely to reoffend, are public information. Jones’ bill, “An Act relative to protecting the citizens of the Commonwealth from sex offenders,” would make information about both Level 2 and 3 sex offenders available online and a list of Level 1 sex offenders available at police departments. It also restricts who can be classified as a Level 1 sex offender. Those who commit crimes against children or “other particularly violent sexually based crimes” would not be able to receive a Level 1 designation. Some exceptions exist for people who committed their crime when they were younger than 14. Currently, the power to classify each offender lies with the registry board, which considers a number of factors related to the crime. These may include the offender’s criminal history, the circumstances of the crime, the degree of harm caused and other considerations. For more, see the board’s guidelines. The two other bills, “An Act relative to public access to sex offender registration information” by Rep. Shaunna O’Connell (R-Taunton) and Rep. James Dwyer (D-Woburn), and “An Act relative to the Sex Offender Registry Board” by Rep. James Arciero (D-Westford) both aim to make information regarding all sex offenders available online. Such information includes the nature of the offense and the offender’s name, address, age, employer, race, height, hair and eye colors and photo. All three bills are scheduled for a Joint Committee on the Judiciary hearing on May 7. The three bills were filed in January, a month after a Level 1 sex offender, John Burbine of Wakefield, was charged with 100 counts of child sex abuse involving 13 infants and toddlers at the illegal daycare service he ran. State Auditor Suzanne Bump released findings […]
Police: Man Arrested on Aguadilla Street for Crack Cocaine
The following information was supplied by the Boston Police Department. Charges listed do not indicate convictions. Boston Police Officers charged a man with possession of crack cocaine on Aguadilla Street on Monday night. Officers were on patrol of the Villa Victoria Housing Development at 4:57 p.m. on March 18 when they recognized two individuals on Aguadilla Street, but not the third man who was with them. The officers pulled their unmarked cruiser over and identified themselves to try and identify the unknown male. According to the police, the man attempted to conceal what appeared to be an open container of alcohol. When officers exited the vehicle, they saw that the man was carrying a bottle of rum, according to the police report. When the officer asked if he was carrying any weapons, the man stated, “I got a razor blade in my pocket,” motioning to his left pants pocket. The officer frisked the man and found a folding knife and two plastic bags containing rock substances police believed to be crack cocaine. Officers also found a bag of what appeared to be less than one ounce of marijuana, they said. Officers charged Marcel Barrows, of 128 Eustis Street, Boston, with possession of a Class B substance, Drinking in Public, and an outstanding default warrant for possession of a Class D Substance out of Boston Municipal Court. SOUTH END PATCH: Facebook | Twitter | E-mail Updates South End Patch