Friday, July 20, 2007

Is The Acting Provincetown Police Chief Bias?

From Bay Windows we learn:

Acting Provincetown Police Chief Warren Tobias said that based on his reading of the “numerous and detailed” police reports of the incident, “I would have to say that I do not believe the police overreacted.” Tobias declined to make the police reports available to Bay Windows, citing the ongoing legal proceedings related to Scott’s arrest

I didn't know it was within the power of a Police Chief to withhold public documents from the public, but even if it is within his authority, what does this action tell us about his intended level of cooperation in finding the truth? The article continues:

Tobias, who stressed that he could not discuss the arrest in detail as it is still an open legal matter, said he believes the officers acted appropriately. He pointed out that there were “numerous complaints about the party from residents of the neighborhood.”

He also stated that police “responded in a tempered manner” by using gradual sanctions against the party hosts during their first two visits to address the complaints. Tobias notes that officers handled similar noise complaints about a party earlier in the summer “in the exact same manner. We have not done anything to change or alter our response.” Tobias expressed his belief that Scott’s actions when police arrived for the third time “escalated the situation,” which resulted in his being arrested.


It seems to me that Tobias is all too eager to say he defends his men's actions, and reserves the "I can't talk right now" card for the questions he doesn't like.

Here is something I think I would like to hear Acting Chief Tobias say:

"The police officers involved in this incident have been suspended until an independent investigation is concluded."

For more reading:

Bay Windows

InNewsWeekly
Boston Globe
Edge Boston
Provincetown Banner

UPDATE: The Edge Boston is reporting that all three calls for noise complaints for the party that Barry Scott was DJing for came from 22 Franklin Street, over half a mile away from the party. This is the first clear evidence that this party was targeted, for one reason or another.

3 comments:

John said...

Your talent for sniffing out details should not be wasted. You should be a reporter. You grab on these stories with the tenaciousness of a junkyard dog.

Good job.

Anonymous said...

Hey, John it's Deanna. I've been getting in contact with the provincetown police through their website. If I don't recieve a response by tomorrow I'm going to call. I want that record and the 911 calls. They have no right to bar this information from the public. Best of luck to you on this as well.

John Hosty said...

Hey Deanna, glad to have the help! The single arrest report from officer Bova is what was submitted to the Orleans Court for prosecution. There are other reports that were written about this incident, and we need to get them too. Those are the reports the acting chief is standing in the way of. The 911 calls, either recorded or transcribed will be interesting to see. I'd like to know how this complaint came in all three times from a half a mile away, and somehow this doesn't raise an eyebrow with police.

You are going to make a great lawyer, Suffolk University is lucky to have you!