Have you read Suzanne Smalley's
front-page Globe story on the state of the Boston Police Department as Tom Menino seeks another term?
If not, don't. Or at least, not until you've read
this excellent article by my colleague David Bernstein first.
It's hard to tell if Smalley read David's piece. She mentions the declining homicide clearance rate in Boston, but fails to put those numbers into any kind of context. Of course, doing so might have required crediting the Phoenix, something the
Globe is
loathe to do.
One other point about the
Globe's treatment: it leaves unasked the open question of whether Kathleen O'Toole is the right person to be leading the BPD.