Great Moments in Evidence.
By Jim Conley • Dec 13th, 2007 • Email This Post to a Friend •
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Need more proof that Tuesday’s decision not to pursue a hearing on appeal into the abuse of power by Brookline PD during May’s Brawl at Town Hall was a sham?
Well, consider this.
On the matter of pursuing an assault charge against Arthur Conquest, Police Chief Daniel O’Leary told selectmen that it was former ZBA member Lawrence Kaplan’s version of events - as documented in the initial police incident report - that justified the charge.
Oh, great.
In the report, Kaplan tells police that he was chairing a public hearing. He wasn’t. He says that the board reached a split decision. It was unanimous. He told police that Conquest and TMM Ruthann Sneider had disrupted the meeting while in progress. The meeting had adjourned. Click here to view the incident report.
Under Massachusetts’ Law, making a false statement to police is a chargeable offense. But Kaplan was never charged.
Now if, as it appears, Kaplan lied about the precipitating events to the altercation, why would the Chief appear before a review board (some seven months later) and say that he still believed Kaplan to have been in a state of fear, thus warranting a criminal complaint by Kaplan’s nephew (BPD’s Sergeant Campbell)?
Indeed, the Chief discounted the consistent testimony of several witnesses who said Kaplan left the hearing dais to pop off on Sneider and Conquest (the Chief calls that opinion) in preference for a patently false statement given to police by Kaplan (the Chief calls that fact).
And this is the guy leading the department. We’re screwed.
Update: And of course Brookline Town Counsel Jennifer Dopazo confirmed Kaplan’s version of events. To be fair, it’s possible for Dopazo to have thought a meeting that she was covering was still in progress and chaired by Kaplan when it wasn’t. Our Jennifer is often clueless as to what’s going on around her.
Jim Conley is publisher of On Brookline.
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This is what I found at the website of Brookline PAX:
“Brookline PAX Actively Supports …
Diversity, Social Justice, and Peace—PAX works to preserve and protect ethnic and economic diversity and social and economic justice for all, through affordable housing, universal health care, and all fundamental civil rights and liberties. We respect the human rights of all people, regardless of ethnicity, nationality, or location; and we support multilateral solutions to international affairs. We oppose the unilateral use of force, except (a) when applied defensively under international law when clear and convincing evidence exists of a serious and imminent threat of aggression, and then (b) only force that is no more than commensurate with the magnitude of the threat.”
Now listen to the silence of PAX members.
Martin Luther King Day will be celebrated on January 21st next year. Chair Daly may have had this in mind when she invited Arthur Conquest to address the Board on January 8th, a sort of a pre-emptive move. Wouldn’t it be better to schedule Conquest’s appearance AFTER January 21st so that the community of Brookline may consider the decision of the Selectman on Tuesday past NOT to have a public hearing on Conquest’s appeal of Lt. Burke’s internal affairs report? Let the Brookline community, and especially the children in our schools, better understand diversity by focusing upon the treatment of Conquest by Town officials.
I was just Googling the phrase ” … and then they came for me … ” which goes back to Anne Frank. There are various versions that follow this format:
“First they came for the _______ but I wasn’t a ________ so I didn’t speak up.
“Then they came for the _______ but I wasn’t a ________ so I didn’t speak up.
“Then they came for me for there were no _______ or ________ to speak up for me.”
Just fill in the blanks. I’m sure many Brookline residents and especially PAX members can do so without much prompting.