Boston Police Department

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Name that non-lethal weapon

Police state
When Boston Police stormed Dewey Square last week in an early morning raid, arresting protesters and destroying the last of Occupy Boston's tent city, they brought with them a frightening, seldom-used weapon.
By LIZ PELLY | December 14, 2011

With support among police quietly growing, can Occupy cross over the thin blue line?

Silent partners
As Occupy camps from coast to coast face evictions — and in many cases have already been pushed out of parks and plazas like so much human trash — it's clear that the institutional response to the movement is escalating dangerously.
By CHRIS FARAONE | November 30, 2011

Photos: Occupy Boston on the National Day of Action

Charlestown Bridge | November 17, 2011
On November 17, 2011, hundreds of Occupy Boston and MassUniting marchers (labor unions, community organizers; SEUI, Local Ironworkers, Jobs for Justice, and more) took to the city streets again in solidarity with another global day of action.
By PHOENIX STAFF | November 18, 2011

Urban Fest gets ugly

Gimme Shelter Dept.
It didn't take long for the largely suburban horde to erupt into a frenzy at the free outdoor concert, which was dubbed, somewhat ironically, the Boston Urban Music Fest (BUMF).
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 10, 2011

Viral justice?

The media might have moved on, but RCC students won't let a case of potential police brutality on campus fade without a fight
The seven-minute YouTube clip begins with five Boston police officers, crowding a Roxbury Community College entranceway, restraining a face-down suspect.
By CHRIS FARAONE | November 23, 2010

The 13th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England
A year and a half into the Age of Obama, we are learning a lesson we should have figured out long ago — that repression, once in place, is rarely rolled back all the way, and that liberals no less than conservatives are reluctant to give up power.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 05, 2010

Paraphernalia paranoia: Allston head shops shut down

Busted
Who is responsible for the wave of "functional glass art" shop raids that has recently taken place throughout Allston?
By VALERIE VANDE PANNE | July 02, 2010

Riot squads

While Boston chilled, LA burned. What makes fans in some cities go wild — win or lose?
On the morning that the Celtics and the Lakers readied for Game 7 of the 2010 NBA Finals, framing one of the most storied and intense rivalries in pro sports, the police departments of Boston and Los Angeles geared up for the worst.
By CHRIS FARAONE | June 28, 2010

Dead Kids

Startling sociological findings about violence and Boston's inner-city youth
Boston's violence promotes more violence, and its murders beget even more murder.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | June 15, 2010

It takes an identity thief

How Karen Keester made off with $250,000 — and became one of Boston's most accomplished con artists
In late April 2006, shortly before the hearing to evict his tenant Karen Keester, Lee Gersch received a phone call from Keester’s twin sister, Michelle. She had just gotten divorced, Michelle claimed, and needed to move to Boston from Arkansas for a new job. She suggested that she and her cat could move right into Keester’s Beacon Hill flat.
By JACLYN TROP | April 27, 2010

Sonny Noto's Restaurant

A not-so-hidden gem with a three-generation track record in Eastie
How does a restaurant fly under the radar for nearly 60 years?
By MC SLIM JB | February 24, 2010

Review: Edge Of Darkness

Roslindale gets a taste of the old Gibson mania
A new genre is emerging in which aging A-list actors play fathers off on a rampage to rescue their daughters or avenge their deaths.
By PETER KEOUGH | February 05, 2010

The war over peace

A decade after the 'Boston Miracle,' violent crime has again overtaken parts of the city. Can the miracle makers create a new peace?
In the early infancy of this five-week-old year, Boston has been rocked by four homicides and 10 non-fatal shootings. By the time this goes to print, there may well be more.
By CHRIS FARAONE | February 05, 2010

The importance of being Ernie

What drives Howie Carr’s anonymous tormentor?
Media feuds don’t come any nastier than the metastasizing spat between Boston Herald columnist Howie Carr and one “Ernie Boch III,” the pseudonymous blogger at the liberal Web site Blue Mass. Group. (Note: the blogger is no relation to the car dealer.)
By ADAM REILLY | October 19, 2009

Anarchists claim victory in G-20 marches

Protestors vs. Police
Safely home after protesting for two full days, and being among the first American civilians ever attacked with a sonic cannon, two Portlanders are calling their efforts a success.
By JEFF INGLIS | September 30, 2009

MassCan's 20th Freedom Rally relatively free from arrests

Peace Pipe Dept.
Assuming that, at MassCann's 20th annual Freedom Rally on Boston Common this past Saturday, all 30,000 attendees got stoned, smokers had less than a half-percent chance of getting busted.
By CHRIS FARAONE | September 23, 2009

Where everybody knows its name

J.J. Foley's Celebrates its 100th
In describing the changes that have shaped the South End since Jeremiah J. Foley poured his first glass of whiskey there one century ago this month, one need not look far for metaphors.
By CHRIS FARAONE | September 09, 2009

When a bicyclist falls in the city, does it make a noise?

A look at the city's most dangerous intersections
Learning to cycle safely on Boston streets is a tempering process.
By PETE STIDMAN | September 01, 2009

Looking for Trouble

Lisa Sliwa and the Angels find it in Boston
As he does every night, the custodian is riding the red line from Mattapan to his job in Central Square, where he's supposed to start work at midnight. He watches as a group of Guardian Angels leaves the car at Fields Corner, and he confides to another passenger that he can't understand why anyone is so worked up about the Angels and what they did in Mattapan.
By KEITH W. JENKINS AND PETER CANELLOS | September 04, 2009

Ted's turn

Clinton caves on crime bill, but Kennedy can still salvage it
A little-known provision in the crime bill now being negotiated by a House-Senate conference committee would greatly expand the number of prison cells available to house violent criminals, and it wouldn't be cost a dime. But it may be doomed unless Senator Ted Kennedy is willing to spend some political capital.
By AL GIORDANO | August 26, 2009

Avoiding a border war

Rape in Brookline
It's a matter of moments before the likes of Lou Dobbs and Bill O'Reilly scapegoat the believed-to-be-illegal-immigrant suspects in last week's Brookline rape case for every problem in America.
By CHRIS FARAONE | August 26, 2009

The Mouth Behind the Eye

Maybe Norma Nathan is just a nice little Jewish mother from the North Shore. After all, she says she only assaults people who assault her.
Norma Nathan, who looks for all the world like a naïve and guileless suburban homemaker (and knows it), was down on Long Wharf a couple of weeks back, snooping around. She was checking out a rumor that Ed King, his Cabinet, a group of political supporters and a crowd of lobbyists were about to embark on a lavish Harbor cruise.
By DAVE O'BRIAN | August 24, 2009

Free speechifying

Letters to the Boston editor, July 17, 2009
How can Dan Kennedy pick a list of people who trample freedom of expression without listing the mayor of Boston?
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | July 15, 2009

The 12th Annual Muzzle Awards

A look at the dishonorable enemies of free speech and personal liberty in New England.
With the era of repression and secrecy fostered by George W. Bush and Dick Cheney finally over, this should be the best of times for freedom of expression, open government, and civil liberties. Yet change comes slowly.
By DAN KENNEDY | July 10, 2009

Boston's $10 Million Boo-Boos

Righting a wrongful conviction
The bill continues to come due for the string of nine wrongful convictions discovered in Boston between 1999 and 2004 — a tab that has now topped $10 million in court settlements.
By DAVID S. BERNSTEIN | July 07, 2009

Cannes goods

Tarantino, Antichrist , and a well-lit genitalia show; why the French film festival is like no other
Quick — name a world-class film-festival administrator willing to reveal that at age 12 he was titillated by the sight of clodhopper-shod Minnie Mouse stomping on Mickey's tail in a French comic book.
By LISA NESSELSON | May 27, 2009

Sporting Eye

See how they ran: No loneliness for these long-distance athletes
There were 7800 official entries and between 2000 and 3000 others along for the ride. By our crude calculations, the leaders were a mile and a half into the course by the time the last runner crossed the starting line.
By GEORGE KIMBALL and MICHAEL GEE | April 30, 2009

Death by handgun

A public-health crisis; plus, gay marriage advances
A couple of weeks ago, David S. Bernstein wrote about the growing "state sovereignty" movement backed by anti-government conspiracy theorists and gun-rights extremists, and touted on the syndicated radio show and Web site of deranged agitator Alex Jones.
By EDITORIAL | April 08, 2009

Interview: Ulrich Boser

Going after the Gardner thieves
As we reach the 19th anniversary of the theft of 13 priceless art objects from the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, there's been a renewed effort to identify the thieves and retrieve the Gardner treasures.
By JEFFREY GANTZ | March 24, 2009

Schools of thought

Letters to the Boston editor, March 13, 2009
While the Phoenix is right on wasteful spending related to school busing, it is wrong on residency.
By BOSTON PHOENIX LETTERS | March 11, 2009