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_Hack_The_Planet_ OP t1_j9ui10x wrote

Remember that many on r/Boston want to defund the police and also let criminals out of prisons. What could go wrong?

−348

Middle-Example6618 t1_j9ujmgi wrote

remember that many here also fail to recognize that 'defund' was used to get exactly their attention, because it got ours 10 and 20 years earlier, when arts education, afterschool programs, music education, and jobs programs for youth were DEFUNDED.

I bet that criminal that you want to blame a shortage of authoritarians for ALSO didn't have anyone to show him how to do better.

You're a pinecone, get out of the way.

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_Hack_The_Planet_ OP t1_j9ukvsw wrote

> fail to recognize that 'defund' was used to get exactly their attention,

No, it literally means abolish the police.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/12/opinion/sunday/floyd-abolish-defund-police.html

Edit:

Title "Yes, We Mean Literally Abolish the Police"

quote from the article:

I’ve been advocating the abolition of the police for years. Regardless of your view on police power — whether you want to get rid of the police or simply to make them less violent — here’s an immediate demand we can all make: Cut the number of police in half and cut their budget in half. Fewer police officers equals fewer opportunities for them to brutalize and kill people. The idea is gaining traction in Minneapolis, Dallas, Los Angeles and other cities.

People would have you believe differently, but this is what the advocates are proposing. They'll lie about the message because that's all the activists have: is lies.

−65

Pinwurm t1_j9utpb3 wrote

> Transit police plan to charge the man, whose name was not released, with assault with the intent to murder

Damn right

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LightBound t1_j9uwquw wrote

Really cool that we don't have any kind of subway platform barriers that could stop something like this from happening, especially considering someone died on the third rail not even a week ago. Really would be a shame if we invested a bit in public transit to prevent stuff like this from happening

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R_Morley t1_j9uzyte wrote

What kind of fucked up person does that. Jesus. Glad he is ok

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Viivusvine t1_j9v8rk5 wrote

To anyone who doesn’t have a NYT subscription, “policing as we know it must be abolished before it can be transformed.” The article isn’t about permanently abolishing police. Americans have actually been talking about the “bad apples” in the police force since at least Prohibition. It’s evidently not working.

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itsonlyastrongbuzz t1_j9vawnx wrote

>When transit police arrived, witnesses pointed to the suspect, who had boarded the train.

>The suspect “challenged the officers to a physical confrontation” when they tried to talk to him, Sullivan said.

>After de-escalating the situation, officers removed the man from the train and confirmed with witnesses and the victim that he was the alleged perpetrator.

Honestly, the dude just boarded the train and sat there?

That’s a whole new level.

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kevalry t1_j9vb1qz wrote

are we becoming the next New York City and Toronto with subway pushes?

−10

Ksevio t1_j9vlyxv wrote

You need a lot more infrastructure for that to work. The trains have to stop at the exact right place so the doors line up and they have to sync with the platform doors when they open and close. We'd need some more modernization of the trains and signaling before that's possible

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McFlyParadox t1_j9vt8qw wrote

At this point, I'd be cool with them ripping all the hardware - rails, ties, switching, everything, even concrete in places where it needs to be repoured - out of the tunnels, and replacing it all with modern gear, one line at a time. And then they do the red line and orange line, dig another tunnel or two to connect the commuter rail between North Station and South Station. Would probably have to replace entire lines with bus service for years, while the line was being gutted and rebuilt, but it's honestly getting to that point. There is only so much you can do when you need spend half your maintenance time just getting equipment in and out of the tunnels. And maybe if we're really good, we can finally have the yellow line. As a treat.

Big-Dig-it-up, but for public transportation this time.

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CJYP t1_j9w3fq8 wrote

Signal modernization is already happening. It's really not that hard to get the train to stop at a specific point. Maybe a bit of training for the drivers. Other cities even have driverless trains that can stop precisely enough for platform screen doors to work.

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SchminksMcGee t1_j9w4bem wrote

That poor person. The shock and his determination to get going is astounding. I honestly stay close to walls and avoid being too close to the edge. Scary humans out there.

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Alloverunder t1_j9wcg1e wrote

Are you perhaps suggesting installing RFID scanners on trains so they know exactly how far they are from the platform, and then giving each train a config file so it knows it's individual braking distance at a particular speed, and then doing a single mathematical operation at runtime?

8 billion dollars and 12 years or it's a no go I'm afraid, we simply don't have the tech yet /s

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Codspear t1_j9wkccm wrote

> Libertarian Republicans all in opposition. 😒.

Which is stupid considering the majority of subway lines in the US were built by private companies before being bought out decades later.

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seanhive t1_j9wmimb wrote

Was it racially motivated? I can’t tell because you didn’t accurately report on this story, Boston.com.

−8

BradDaddyStevens t1_j9wnxfm wrote

It should be done at some point, regardless. Also, could you elaborate on your $10bil number?

If we manage to do all that, then it will be possible to run trains without drivers and we’ll be able to run trains a lot more frequently.

Speaking long term, one of the biggest recurring costs to transit systems in expensive, modern cities like Boston is paying for operators of the system. Eliminating that when we can would be quite nice.

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Robobvious t1_j9x3tlp wrote

I don’t want to sound callous but whoever that was earned themselves a Darwin award. Are you familiar with Downtown Crossing? You would literally have to jump down onto the active train tracks in order to touch the third rail. It’s nonsensical that anyone would put themselves in that position.

−1

TooSketchy94 t1_j9x6fgx wrote

Honestly, you should check out some very basic self defense classes in the area.

I’m a woman and I go to a local Jiu Jitsu dojo (it’s 50% women) and have learned a ton already on how to stop / seriously deter getting picked up.

Biggest one is when you feel that grab come on, widen your stance and settle your weight down low. Even tiny people are significantly harder to move. Think about a dog when having to be dragged to a bath tub. This will at the very least give you enough time to scream and/or deter the attacker some - maybe even enough to leave as they realize it wasn’t going to be as easy as they expected.

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TDKevin t1_j9xoc8w wrote

I don't get this defense of not having it. I have to stop in the exact right place when I park a car too. If the trains are that hard to control they can't stop at a certain line then there's a bigger issue.

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nomoreroger t1_j9xqpwb wrote

Totally get you in that and I am not a tiny lady. There are two things to consider if this ever happens to you. If you have a free hand, go for the eyes. People instinctively try to protect their eyes… it is some kind of brain stem level response so even a person who needs mental health aid will likely drop you.

The other is what my childhood PE/Health teacher taught all us little boys and girls… if you can reach the eyes, then go for the other bits (she used to shout GRAB, TWIST, and PULL!!)

Honestly, I always figured that if some dude tried to jump me, knowing that I probably am not a martial arts expert or even a journeymen boxer, I would totally go the the GTP option. A handful of dude bits being grabbed l, twisted, and pulled would also result in quick release I think.

Eye gouging is king though…

8

IDCFFSGTFO t1_j9xwehs wrote

>did nothing to help

Yeah except stop the lunatic from pushing more people onto the tracks. That's really not nothing. But it's fine, you can always become Batman and save the next person, right? Thank god for you.

−2

hustlehound t1_j9y45uk wrote

And this is why I stay as close to the opposing wall as possible....if there is one.

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jtet93 t1_j9yf1ck wrote

I was thinking about this the other day. I’m the furthest thing from an engineer but I’m confused as to why there are no alternatives that don’t involve making the trains stop at the same place every time. Like what about a barrier that raises up from within the platform and lowers when the train pulls in? Or like a garage door style system where it pulls down in front of you and raises when the train pulls in? Having doors that open just seems like a complicated option.

3

Ksevio t1_j9yo0l6 wrote

It's not that it's impossible, there are trains systems that do it, it's just the MBTA system isn't set up to do it automatically. Even being off by a foot would mean the doors would be too narrow and restrict the flow of people

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free_to_muse t1_j9yx8wd wrote

So flippant. If you shut down a train for 5 yrs, people just don’t keep doing the same thing until it reopens. You’ll destroy countless businesses and communities, perhaps permanently. People will move, and change their behavior to not need the train. So when the train comes back, it’s a different world.

2

eamonious t1_j9z6imx wrote

Even if the person were a minority, how would you even know… ?

We’re talking about a crazy person shoving ppl in front of trains. Any politics you try to put on it is wild speculation unless the perpetrator actually says that’s why they did it.

2

Robobvious t1_j9za9zl wrote

I’m not saying more safety would be bad, but what I am saying is if you go to DTX and look at where the third rail is, it is baffling that someone could have touched it without deliberately climbing down onto active train tracks and trying to cross to the other platform instead of walking around the proper way which takes all of two minutes. You can’t break into electricity’s house and then act surprised when he’s home!

0

lqdizzle t1_ja0u14h wrote

I mean statistically you’re probably right. What’s it called when you JUDGE PREvious to knowing for a fact…..anyway, my dude is statistically likely to be NOT white too, amiright? You dumb fuck

−1

MgFi t1_ja0yjhw wrote

My comment was meant to imply that whether they degrade service to rebuild the line while keeping it running, or they shut the line down to rebuild it faster or more completely, it's going to impact people either way. The same effects you mention will happen, regardless of which option is chosen, although if the line is kept running in some reduced capacity, there might be less of it. When the line is brought back up to full service, the world will be different either way.

0

lqdizzle t1_ja32obp wrote

I see. This murder is too specific for my dept of justice stats but your internal “must be a vagrant” metric is spot on.

I’m a registered independent but that has nothing to do with anything because to you I’m actually a race obsessed leftist.

Thank god you’re here to clear things up. Otherwise the rest of us are just using facts, stats and logic.

−1

kevalry t1_ja3nz36 wrote

In Massachusetts, it is NIMBY Suburban Democrats with Libertarian Republican Governors in opposition. Both the Governor and State Legislature have been unwilling to improve the MBTA since Bill Weld.

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