ShotSpotter

I read the story on the use of ShotSpotter grants being used in Boston (“Pols target ShotSpotter grants,” Boston Herald, May 15) and the concerns of Sen. Liz Warren and Sen. Ed Markey and U.S. Rep. Ayanna Pressley and it seems several members of the Boston City Council. City councilors want BPD Commissioner Michael Cox to delay signing a new ShotSpotter contract.

It appears these three members of Congress are seeking answers from the DHS Inspector General whether it is an appropriate use of taxpayer dollars. The ACLU has stated that nearly 70% (of incidents using) this new technology resulted in no evidence of gunfire (2020-2022). The city councilors going after ShotSpotter are as usual using the issue of race to call this crime fighting technology into question.

Didn’t we already have this discussion back years ago when then-City Councilor Rob Consalvo first introduced this technology into fighting crime in Boston?

I agree with BPD Commissioner Cox that the sensors detect the sound of gun fire and alert police and  “save lives”  in areas where shots are fired late at night and people in the area don’t call police. Cox is spot on, “It’s how we all stay safer.”

The whole purpose of ShotSpotters is to implement quicker response times to shots fired. Politicians seem more concerned over how things look politically while residents in the neighborhoods want safe communities without living in fear of becoming crime statistics.

Bottom Line. I think the May 15 Boston Herald editorial ought to be required reading for our elected officials whether in the US Capitol or right here at City Hall. Stop thinking  about narratives and start seeing  the reality of violence  in too many of our city’s neighborhoods.

( The writer was a police officer for 28 years with the Metro Boston DMH Police)

Sal Giarratani

East Boston

WNBA players

The Caitlin Clark era in the WNBA began to well-earned fanfare on Tuesday night, as Clark is the all-time leading scorer in Women’s NCAA basketball as of today. I am sure she will set a boatload of records in the WNBA which will stand for a few years until the first biological man joins the Women’s National Basketball Association (WNBA). At that point, those records will fall quickly, just like NCAA women’s swimming records are being shattered by men today.

Nick McNulty

Windham, NH

Tom Brady roast

I just watched the beginning of the Tom Brady Roast. It was terrible! Dirty, filthy language, and statements degrading to him and his entire family. This included his ex-wife, his children, his parents, and other family members.

If this is what “celebrity” is all about, you can keep it! I always thought of him being a classy guy, but no longer for allowing himself and his family to be a party to such vulgarity.

The Roast and all the people present were like an out of control den of iniquity. It will take a long, LONG time for Brady to regain respect for allowing himself to be used like that.

Al DiLascia

Chicopee