BOSTON — Multiple officer involved shootings in recent weeks have some wondering if the arrest of a Boston police officer last month has other officers acting more cautiously or with hesitation.
An officer involved shooting on Hemenway Street near Northeastern University Saturday ended with police shooting and killing someone wielding a sword while experiencing a mental health crisis, according to officials.
An officer was badly injured, and two EMS Clinicians were also hurt.
Security expert Dan Linskey has heard from those in the law enforcement community that there are questions circulating surrounding officer’s decision making, concerned that it could be second guessed or analyzed after the fact.
“The question I’m hearing is ‘did the officers hesitate because they were afraid of the quick arrest without a grand jury process of their fellow officer and if that hesitation occurred, did that result in the officer getting injured?’” Linskey said.
With multiple officer involved shooting in recent weeks, on top of Boston police officer Nicholas O’Malley being quickly arrested a charged with manslaughter after a carjacking incident last month, law enforcement experts say there’s a lot of outside noise these officers have been dealing with.
Law enforcement expert Todd McGhee says “it’s fair that those conversations are being had. That level of ‘could this be me if I make a wrong decision, am I going to second guess myself?’ But when it comes down to a life-or-death situation and you’re in the heat of the moment, all law enforcement has left is to rely on their training so it’s going to be central that they stick with that and clear the noise out of their head and to move forward accordingly.”
Linskey explained that the lack of access to the body camera footage in the carjacking incident is likely contributing to any hesitation officers may be feeling.
“The fact that video isn’t public, officers haven’t seen that video. They might be able to see the video and say, ‘oh I can see why the DA made that decision as quickly as they did.’ That’s not a policy or procedure but nobody’s seen that so cops are kind of walking on eggshells a little bit,” Linskey explained.
Though, Northeastern students who are advocating for clearer and more detailed communication from the university during these instances, believe an added layer of caution may be an appropriate measure.
“I think caution is always good in police work,” Jeffrey Franchetti said. “I think it would make everyone safer, especially when there’s guns involved.”
“I bet that they’re exercising their caution around that, but I think that’s because of a lack of training on these issues,” Leo Ansari said.
“We’ve seen so many officers involved shootings, so many instances of just mis-care, misuse, over and over again. It’s impossible to really suggest that they not use caution at this point,” Lokesh Mukrhi added.
Regarding NU student’s Monday protest for stronger communication, the university’s vice president for communication Renata Nyul provided the following statement:
“It’s important to note that the events of the past week have all taken place off campus, although we realize that the close proximity to campus is concerning. The university’s police department works in close coordination with the Boston police. We are increasing patrols on all sides of the campus, and we will continue to keep the Northeastern community informed when incidents occur.”
The officer involved shooting on Hemenway Street near Northeastern University remains under investigation.
Boston 25 did reach out to Boston Police, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, and The Office of Police Accountability and Transparency, but so far have yet to hear back.
This is a developing story. Check back for updates as more information becomes available.
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