Two weeks after her police escort crossed on a crimson mild and collided with one other automobile, Boston Mayor Michelle Wu stated it was “standard practice” for emergency lights and sirens to be activated when transporting dignitaries by means of site visitors.
Wu stated video footage offered to her workplace exhibits that the Boston police officer, Keyanna Smith, got here to a whole cease on the intersection previous to going by means of the crimson mild, and adopted division protocols “as laid out for the use of sirens.”
While she feels elected officers ought to must expertise the identical on a regular basis inconveniences as residents, Wu stated it’s “fairly standard practice” for the dignitary safety workforce “to activate lights and sirens to move through traffic smoothly when getting to a destination.”
“Everyone else is stuck in traffic and that is something that is unusual and I think should and is used sparingly, but the reality of being mayor and one of the unique parts of this job is I do have to get all around the city in all different locations on my calendar,” Wu stated Tuesday on GBH’s Boston Public Radio.
“Today, I have eight different meetings, everywhere from way down low in Port Norfolk all the way up to Charlestown, Dorchester, Mission Hill and in City Hall, and sometimes when there is an important commitment to get to those lights and sirens go on.”
The mayor stated using lights and sirens in non-emergency conditions — corresponding to what occurred June 6 when Smith went by means of a crimson mild to attempt to get Wu to an occasion on the Copley Library on time and collided with a automobile pushed by a lady along with her younger son within the backseat — just isn’t performed “frequently.”
“But it is part of an aspect of this job that I have to get places and we are reviewing when and how to make sure that that is always safe and appropriate as well,” Wu stated.
The collision left the girl, recognized in media studies as Yosmery Peña, and her 1-year-old child injured, and with $8,000 in injury to her automobile. She instructed a Boston information outlet that she was liable for the $1,000 insurance coverage deductible.
Wu instructed reporters that she was somewhat banged up from the crash, however based on the police report, had declined quick medical consideration. The police officer, Smith, was additionally injured, the report said.
A spokesperson for the Boston Police Department stated Tuesday that the crash continues to be below investigation, and directed the Herald to the BPD web site for data on what its protocols are to be used of emergency lights and sirens.
According to division guidelines, an officer “may drive such vehicle through an intersection of ways contrary to any traffic signs or signals regulating traffic at such intersection if he first brings such vehicle to a full stop and then proceeds with caution and due regard for the safety of persons and property.”
“There’s a set of protocols that govern when and govern how sirens and lights have to be deployed when they are deemed to be used around how you stop, how you approach, how you communicate and activate the different mechanisms,” Wu stated. “And so that’s below investigation.
“There was one video that was leaked immediately that shows that from one particular angle. There are other angles that have been obtained that show other parts of how that happened.”
Source: www.bostonherald.com”