At Issue & In Focus

Innovative Approaches to Law Enforcement: An Outsiders View Inside South Bay

Contributed by an Intern with the Massachusetts Attorney General's Office Public Justice Fellowship Program

For the first session of the Attorney General’s Public Justice Fellowship program, I was assigned to the the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department. Millions of thoughts were flowing through my head while I waited patiently in the lobby of South Bay Correctional Center.  

I have two brothers behind bars here; will they use that against me? I know so many people here; could I say what’s up to those I grew up with; will I be penalized for doing so?

My nerves made me over think, but despite my thoughts, I was cool. I arrived early, so when 9 0’clock struck I was ready to go in. I placed my bag in a locker and had my hand stamped in order to go back where the inmates were. I was excited to get started.

During my first week, I shadowed people like Anne Nee, True-See Allah, and Joe Crosby. They gave me a basic outlook of the facility and showed me around. I ate cafeteria food made by inmates, which was not as tasty as I would’ve liked. The week became more interesting when I started working in Records. I was assigned to search inmate files and reduce their sentence on document according to their “goodtime”. Goodtime is reduced sentence time given to inmates when they take classes or work for the facility under staff supervision.

My first week wrapped up pretty good and I was anxious to get started on my second week.

Week two was a little more comfortable and exciting. I saw firsthand the selection process amongst the submitted applications for work at the Sheriff’s Department. My supervisor for the day made me, as an intern, feel like an employee. I filed the names of applicants in the file room, and recorded record why specific applicants were denied. The women I was working with took good care of me. They brought me food and I gracefully ate with them. We laughed, joked, and we conversed about things deemed unnecessary elsewhere. My supervisor kept me for the whole week because she requested to “steal” me after my work with her on Monday. My time at the Suffolk County Sheriff’s Department was one to remember. 

Next week, the Suffolk County District Attorney’s Office…

Social Network Posts Say More Than You Think

Contributed by Darius Schwarz, Public Affairs Intern with the Washington State Attorney General's Office

For millions across the globe, the idiosyncratic practice of updating one’s status on Facebook or Twitter has become a ubiquitous component of everyday life. We want our friends to know what we’re up to and we, in turn, are interested in what they’re doing. Going to Orange County next week for vacation? Let us know! We may want mouse ears with our name stitched on them. Off to the new martini bar that just opened in the cool part of town? Tell your friends! They might want to meet up with you there.

On the surface, updates about our whereabouts seem like fairly innocuous tidbits about our lives. But their crux is the same across the board: You’re announcing, “I’m not home.”

To serve as a reminder (or more aptly a wakeup call) about how much one actually divulges when posting about specific whereabouts, the Web site PleaseRobMe.com was launched last month. Compiling Twitter updates logged through location-sharing sites such as Foursquare, the site automatically captures posts and assembles them chronologically into a lengthy register referred to as “Recent Empty Homes.”

Some examples:

USER:  “I’m at NCsoft West (1501 4th Ave, Floor 20, Seattle).”
USER:  “I’m at Apple Store (3710 Route 9 South, Freehold).”
USER:  “I’m at Starbucks - Marina/Chestnut (2132 Chestnut St, at Scott, San Francisco).”

Most savvy users only share their whereabouts from location-sharing sites with an approved list of friends. However, there are scores of others who post these updates directly to their Twitter profiles that are often viewable to the world.

This is not to say the popularity of sites like Foursquare, Gowalla and Loopt have created a rash of burglaries. The FBI’s cyber division reports it has yet to be made aware of a single home break-in case stemming from a person sharing their location in cyberspace. Still, at least one Twitter user believes his messages led to a home burglary.

Regardless, the overlying theme of PleaseRobMe.com remains important.

As information is shared at an increasingly explosive rate in venues across the Internet, it is easy to get lulled into a sense of security. While you may consider yourself cognizant about what you are saying online and to whom, your brief message can still be telling someone you do not know something you do not want.

As Washington State Attorney General Rob McKenna told MSNBC, “It’s very easy to find people, even with unlisted phone numbers. And you should not assume that just because you use some kind of alias on your Twitter account that someone won’t be able to figure out who you are and where you live.”

So take an extra moment before clicking "Share"; your friends will still be jealous you’re on your way to a Lady Gaga show.

Maybe.

2-1-1

Contributed by Meghan Keaney, Communications Director, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

Do you know someone who may need help with their utilities or other basic needs this winter? Tell them to dial 2-1-1 from any home or cell phone. 

The United Way has been seeing more and more residents who have been caught off-guard by the unstable economy – individuals who have jobs but still can’t make ends meet under a sharply rising cost of living. Last year, in an effort to ensure that individuals and families in unexpected financial crisis have somewhere to turn for help, United Ways across the state came together to launch the Community Support Fund, which provides direct emergency assistance for basic needs.

Mass211 is a free and confidential help line to connect people to health and human services. Individuals who need cash assistance for heat, food or other basic needs can access our Community Support Fund by dialing 2-1-1.  Data for 2009 reveals that Mass211 received over 46,000 calls with the majority coming from Boston, Brockton, Lynn, Springfield and Worcester. The overwhelming majority of calls were regarding assistance with basic needs such as rent, utilities, and food. The United Way would also like to encourage people to use 2-1-1 as a resource during tax time, to help residents find free tax filing sites and determine eligibility for EITC.  Notably, people can also use 2-1-1 to find organizations accepting donations for the Haiti Earthquake Recovery effort.

Civic Engagement at Old Colony YMCA

Submitted by Vivian Renee, Program Director of the Brockton Jobs for Youth Program at the Brockton Old Colony YMCA

Civic engagement is alive and well with the youth of Massachusetts. More youth than ever are becoming involved in their communities through volunteer work as well as politics. The Massachusetts YMCA’s Youth & Government Program is helping to fuel that interest in several participants in the AGO’s Jobs for Youth Program at the Brockton Old Colony YMCA. 
 
With its mission, “Democracy must be learned by each generation,” Youth & Government helps participants acquire skills to take into the future. As a YMCA program, Youth & Government focuses on the core values of caring, honesty, respect, responsibility, civic engagement, and fun; and develops public speaking/communication skills, enhanced leadership skills, provides a for the application of moral and ethical values to life decisions, and a greater understanding of the democratic process.

Youth & Government delegations meet at the local level every week starting in September. The teen delegates choose to participate in one of the variety of functions that keep Government going including serving as representatives of the Executive branch, Legislative branch, and the Judicial branch. Delegates can also participate as a member of the press or as a lobbyist. The program culminates with three all-day Pre-Legislative Conferences, leading up to a three-day Model Legislative Conference, which takes place in Boston at the State House in late March.

Congratulations to all those youth participating in the program and preparing themselves to be the next leaders of our Commonwealth and our County.

Energy Bucks Presents: 10 Ways to Improve Your Energy Efficiency

Submitted by Haley Ayraud, Account Coordinator, Energy Bucks Initative

• Maintaining an efficient heating system is an important step to conserving energy. Have your heating system serviced at least once every two years.

• For every one degree Fahrenheit you set your thermostat back, you can save 1-3% on your annual heating costs.

Heat From the Ground

Submitted by the Reading Advisory Committee on Citites for Climate Protection (Reading, MA) 

One way to reduce the high cost and environmental impact of heating and cooling your building is to install ground source heat exchange.  Here in New England, though the air temperature varies greatly with the seasons, the temperature in the ground remains nearly constant at about 52º F year-round. Geothermal heat pump technology, also called ground-source heat exchange or geo-exchange, takes advantage of this by collecting and concentrating energy from the earth to heat a building during winter. 

Can You Spare a Dollar?

Contributed by Kelly Woodland, Aide to Leominster Mayor Dean J. Mazzarella

Facing a shortage of energy assistance funds this year, Leominster's mayor is tapping into the community for help. Mayor Mazzarella is asking every city resident to contribute $1 to a newly established energy assistance account. If every city resident contributes $1 the city could raise $43,000.

Energy Audit

Contributed by Nora Mann, Assistant Attorney General and Chief of the Community Information & Education Division of the Attorney General’s Office

Very late fall I called NStar to schedule an Energy Audit. A few short weeks later, Victor, a very knowledgeable consultant with NStar, arrived and spent the next few hours going through my house literally from top to bottom.

2-1-1

Contributed by Meghan Keaney, Communications Director, United Way of Massachusetts Bay and Merrimack Valley

Do you know someone who may need help with their utilities or other basic needs this winter? Tell them to dial 2-1-1 from any home or cell phone. 

Question of the Week: Warming Centers in Your Community?

The following question was posed to the AGO Energy Blog by Deb Karan, Assistant Health Agent with the Athol Board of Health.

As the temperatures drop, concerns for some of the more vulnerable populations grow. The costs of heating a home all day can be a challenge for many, but the consequences of keeping the heat too low can be dangerous. Every year, we hear about Massachusetts residents who are forced to choose between using the heat and buying food or medicines.