A prime Boston Police Division official disputed claims from two metropolis councilors that BPD radio communications had been offline for practically half-hour on the peak of in a single day violence that broke out within the aftermath of this previous weekend’s Dominican Competition.
BPD Superintendent-in-Chief Phillip Owens confirmed Tuesday that the primary police radio channel for the large-scale Dorchester competition went darkish Sunday evening, however stated the division was capable of shortly change over to a different broadcast.
“Per our protocol, if the channel goes down — it was just one channel that went down — they immediately switch over, which they did,” Owens informed reporters at an unrelated Metropolis Corridor Plaza occasion. “We labored with Motorola to find out precisely what transpired, however that lapse you’re referring to was very brief.
“They immediately switched over to another channel, and then it was quickly resolved,” he added.
Owens stated it wasn’t clear how lengthy the radio channel for the competition space was down for, however stated that the communication breakdown didn’t compromise the police division’s means to answer any of the 4 shootings or a stabbing that occurred in a single day, from Sunday to Monday.
“Absolutely not,” Owens stated. “We immediately went to another channel.”
Mayor Michelle Wu, who was requested concerning the breakdown by reporters on the similar occasion, stated she was briefed on the matter by Boston Police.
“In the very rare situations that something like that happens, there are multiple channels available, and they instantaneously switch to another channel to resume communication,” Wu stated.
When requested whether or not the division was investigating the radio blackout, as requested by Boston Metropolis Councilors Erin Murphy and Ed Flynn, Owens stated, “We’re looking into what caused the problem.”
Murphy and Flynn wrote a letter to Police Commissioner Michael Cox on Monday, saying that they had been “deeply concerned that public safety systems failed at such a critical moment,” when violence was breaking out after the weekend competition.
The councilors claimed that the radio channel failure pressured officers “to respond to an active shooting without reliable communication tools.”
Their letter adopted a social media put up from the town’s largest police union, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Affiliation, that flagged the “inexplicable” 30-minute radio breakdown. The union stated it occurred when police assets had been already stretched for the occasion — a state of affairs that “more often than not” results in violence at large-scale festivals.
“Yesterday’s Dominican Festival is the latest example,” the BPPA posted on X Monday. “Last night, four people were shot in less than two hours. Begging the question, when do we stop the insanity?”
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