‘defunding is absurd’
Dorchester tragedy shows the folly of ‘partisan craziness’
The family of Delois Brown and residents of Dorchester don’t need platitudes or political “defund the police” rhetoric or campaign talking points.
They need real action and real results — that includes finding the 73-year-old grandmother’s murderer and putting an end to the violence that makes even standing on your front porch dangerous.
“The model is prevention, intervention and enforcement, not defunding,” said the Rev. Eugene Rivers, a longtime community and religious leader “Defunding is absurd.”
Rivers said he will be trying to organize a mayoral debate on public safety to hold the candidates — some of whom have been promoting police funding reform — accountable for their statements “because right now it’s just cheap shots.”
“No partisan craziness, let’s focus on problem solving,” Rivers said in an interview. “The politicians need to be listening to the needs of the residents in the poorest neighborhoods where there’s the most violence … We have some left wing people shooting from the lip on this stuff.”
But Rivers also called on the police unions to work more closely with the black community in Dorchester and to weed out bad actors in the force.
“We’ve got one of the best departments — not perfect — in the country and we’ve got to defend them,” he said.
Rivers’ controversial statements won’t play well among some of the candidates and their supporters, including what he calls “trust fund kids from Dover and Wellesley” who don’t have a clue what Delois Brown’s family and neighbors are going through.
Acting Mayor Kim Janey did come to the scene of Brown’s murder to offer support but that’s the least she can do as the new political leader of the city.
“It is a scene that is all too familiar to certain neighborhoods in my city,” she said.
Janey last year led an effort within the Boston City Council to cut the police budget by 10% and voted against the city budget because it contained too much money for police. Let’s see if that makes its way into her mayoral election campaign platform.
Brown is the second innocent grandmother shot down by gun violence in the last two years and that’s unacceptable. Eleanor Maloney, 74, was killed in April 2019 in Mattapan while walking on the sidewalk, cut down by gunfire.
State Sen. Nick Collins, whose district includes Brown’s neighborhood, also went to the scene of the shooting and said none of his constituents are talking about cutting police funding.
The pandemic has been an especially ripe time for violent crime and shootings, which have skyrocketed.
“They’re scared. It’s clear the community needs resources. More police, more resources for nonprofits,” Collins said. “This is not the time to defund police, but to increase funding for public safety.”