Mayor Michelle Wu should stop politicizing public safety. Today.
Hire good police and fire commissioners and let them do their jobs. She’s doing the opposite.
Calling the response to a South Boston overdose death two weekends ago tainted by “conspiracy theories” and “rumors” is doing more harm than good.
It is a fact a 28-year-old died in an apartment at the Mary Ellen McCormack housing complex of a suspected drug overdose.
That does not qualify as a “conspiracy theory.”
It is a fact that four children, ages 5 to 10, were found in a back bedroom by first responders.
That’s not a “rumor.”
It is a fact those kids are now in the custody of the state Department of Children and Families after a 51A neglect report was filed once firefighters got a look inside that squalid apartment.
That also does not qualify as a “conspiracy theory” or a “rumor.”
It is a tragically simple story: suspected drug abuse in a housing complex under city control resulted in an untimely death. Four impressionable kids were close enough to the deceased to potentially suffer trauma.
It all comes as the state reported opioid-related overdose deaths hit a record high. There were 2,357 confirmed and estimated opioid-related overdose deaths in the Bay State last year, surpassing the previous peak in 2021 by 57 deaths. That’s a 2.5% increase year-over-year.
Boston EMS staffers are called to an average of 7.5 opioid-related responses daily. That’s too many and is taxing emergency services. The mayor could address that, possibly, instead of taking shots at her own city employees.
The mayor needs to work toward solutions and cut back on the political rhetoric. Politicians were quick to praise police, firefighters and EMS workers along with nurses and doctors in the heat of the pandemic. Where is that respect today?
Mayor Wu should apologize to the firefighters who were first on the scene who thought of the children and the victim first. Yes, part of the record states transgender people were in that apartment where drugs and “sex toys” were seen. That’s just observational reporting that is required by anyone who walks into a scene.
It is infuriating to see these professionals — firefighters in this instance — questioned when all they were doing was thinking of the kids who clearly needed someone on their side in that apartment unit one city councilor called a “horror house.”
The only truth that comes out of this sad situation is adults will wrestle with their demons and there’s really not much anyone can do about it — but DCF can and should take youngsters under their wing and try to find solutions to give each child a chance to grow up.
Furthermore, we don’t need police and firefighters second-guessing their every move in fear of how a mayor turning Boston into a nanny state will judge their actions post-mortem. The mayor needs to be more pragmatic and less idealistic.
Look at how Gov. Maura Healey handled the same story (hint, her focus was on the kids). That’s what is called for today.