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Standing tall — a Quincy Quarry News exclusive image
— Quincy Massachusetts News by Quincy Quarry News – News, Opinion and Commentary.
This new pocket park is even smaller than it looks
A Quincy Quarry News Photo Recon Team Six exclusive image
While out and about to effect multiple drive-by shootings yesterday mid-morning, Quincy Quarry News’ fearless as well as feted Photo Recon Team Six went to at least Code Yellow while out and about working the mean as well as lately cold streets of Quincy.
The cause for at least some pause by the Quarry’s heretofore fearless Photo Recon Team Six?
A massive presence of Quincy police officers at yesterday’s dedication of Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch’s latest expression of his long-suspected agalmatophilia via the unveiling of a statue of John Quincy Adams in an out of the way new Quincy Center pocket park that will cost upwards of $7 million all in as well as surely provide a convenient venue for illegal drug trafficking.
How considerable was the Quincy police presence shortly before the unveiling?
Quincy Police Department Special Ops rides
A Quincy Quarry News Photo Recon Team Six exclusive image
At least sixteen uniformed officers on hand,: eight Special Operations officers were seen on site with their police motorcycles, six regular patrol officers counted, and two K9 officers with their canine partners.
Such a showing of force was quite something as a practice crisis event training exercises was concurrently underway at North Quincy High School and thus surely stretching police resources at least towards thin.
Particularly worrisome was that one of the police dogs looked to be conducting a bomb-sniffling sweep of the perimeter of the temporary event tent to accommodate an anticipated couple hundred or so dedication event attendees.
After all, with 10% or thereabouts property tax bill increases looking to be likely for local homeowners, perhaps an already over-taxed local homeowner might be pushed over the edge and so go postal over Quincy Mayor Tomas P. Koch’s rolling out adjacent to the Quincy Center and thus main local post office his latest expensive edifice complex.
Quincy police department motorcycle officers seem to travel with the mayor to funerals around the city all the time. Typically there are 6-8 motorcycle officers at these funerals.
I once asked one funeral director who pays for these officers and his response was “The mayor sends them.” I asked if they do funerals for every citizen’s deceased loved ones and his response was “well, more or less they are provided as a courtesy to families of influence or friends of politicians.”
In other words, Aunt Gertrude who paid her taxes for 70 years but who doesn’t have the right political juice or didn’t make the right donations isn’t getting 8 police officers to escort her funeral but someone with a name that might appear on a campaign donations roster might score a police presence seemed to be the inference.
Seems like a misuse of public services but I am just a taxpayer so I have no say.
In any event, I was at an intersection one day and two motorcycle officers were holding up traffic as other motorcycle officers were racing alongside the hearse at a high rate of speed and I wondered, “is the dead person in a hurry to get into the grave?”
And to answer Quincy Quarry’s question, as for the 16-20 police officers at the statue dedication they were likely all getting overtime to make the mayor feel important.
On the other hand, the dog could have been sniffing out remnants of Carne Asada at the former site of Acapulco’s, however, when it comes to sniffing out a free meal, my money is on Koch. The dogs never stood a chance.
Kocha Nostra,
Funny you should bring up funeral police details.
They do not entail pay for the officers working these details.
Rather, they receive a “day due” — basically a comp day off — and such hides the cost of providing a police escort for a funeral.
Additionally, there are ways to then work a day due and which the convicted former Quincy police lieutenant played like a fiddle to double and sometimes even triple dip.
Further note that the Dipper basically provided basically concierge service coordinating funeral detail escorts with the mayor.
In short as well as yet again, “only in Quincy© …”
Maybe the Chief of Police will stand up to the Mayor and tell him he won’t have his police department used as a PR Unit for re-election (of course I am joking). It’s a good ole boys club! I see even the Sheriff sends officers to funerals now too.
I wonder if the new 200 million dollar Police Station has an embalming room we haven’t been told about yet! We have the statues of the saints and all we need are a few parlors and it’s a quick drive across the street to the pearly golden leaf gates of Mt. Wollaston.
If someone ever wants some good reading go back to the Police Investigation of City Employees in the Cemetery Department back in the early 1970’s when city officials were making money off the sale of graves…..(Don’t worry, nobody was prosecuted! It was shut down before that happened).
Oh, and some of the surnames of those involved might sound familiar! If the Patriot Ledger wanted a great story do some Public Disclosure on this investigation!
“A City under the Influence” by former Mayor Joseph LaRaia written before I was born and long before I ever “transplanted” to this city. There is an entire chapter dedicated to the graves that were paid for and disappeared. Families showed up to visit graves which were gone and nowhere to be found. Gravestones gone and replaced with new ones for other deceased persons. Reuse is a part of the 3 R’s but where did the bodies go?