Citing concerns with violence and low staffing levels, a Boston city councilor formally requested that police department leadership enlist the help of outside law enforcement agencies to “ensure public safety” at this weekend’s festival and events.
City Councilor Ed Flynn made the request in a Tuesday email sent to Boston Police Commissioner Michael Cox and Superintendent Lanita Cullinane, citing the need for increased enforcement at the “many events” scheduled this weekend, including the Caribbean Carnival celebration — which was associated with a mass shooting last year.
“I am respectfully requesting for the Boston Police Department to formally request law enforcement assistance of neighboring cities and towns for this weekend with many events taking place across the city, including the Caribbean parade,” Flynn wrote in the email, which was obtained by the Herald.
“Please note I have heard directly from members of the Boston Police Department, city residents and businesses on concerns about our staffing levels, as there are a number of events or large gatherings scheduled,” the councilor added. “Therefore, I am asking if we can identify any assistance from other police departments throughout Greater Boston, including our affiliation with the Metro Boston Homeland Security Region, that would help our city and department to ensure public safety this weekend.”
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Flynn’s request follows concerns cited earlier this week by Larry Calderone, president of the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association, the city’s largest union, who said that although the department will deploy an all-hands-on-deck approach at Saturday’s Caribbean festival and parades, there aren’t enough available officers to appropriately cover regular citywide patrols and concurrent large-scale events.
A police source within the department told the Herald that police have a “heightened sense of alertness” every year heading into the Caribbean festival, which is known for “violence” and “gunplay.”
Eight people were shot during the J’ouvert, a morning parade associated with the Carnival, last summer, and this year’s event is occurring soon after last Sunday’s violence at the Dominican Festival in Franklin Park, where five people were shot.
Flynn, who drew blowback after pitching a pause on events in the downtown and on Boston Common, due to a stabbing in Downtown Crossing that nearly killed a man, said Wednesday that residents and business owners in the area “are asking for public safety support due to the violence taking place.”
Mariellen Burns, a spokesperson for the Boston Police Department, said BPD already coordinates with city agencies and law enforcement partners for the scheduled events.
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“We thank the councilor for his input,” Burns said in a statement. “The department has been working for many months with the organizers of the yearly events scheduled for this weekend. As we do in all of our planning efforts, we’ve made adjustments to the events themselves and to our deployment, to support public safety in the best ways possible.
“Leading up to the events and throughout the weekend we will continue to take the feedback of the community, intelligence and data into account to proactively mitigate or address any issues,” Burns added. “This year, as in years past, we will partner with other city agencies and law enforcement partners who have jurisdiction in the areas where the events take place.”
Mayor Michelle Wu’s office deferred comment to BPD, but said earlier this week that the city and Caribbean Carnival organizers debriefed after last year’s event, and “decided to change the location of the J’ouvert for the best experience and for safety.”
The Boston Red Sox continued to rebuild their pitching staff, acquiring left-hander Jovani Morán on Tuesday from the Minnesota Twins in exchange for catcher and infielder Mickey Gasper.
The 27-year-old Morán appeared in 79 games as a reliever for the Twins from 2021 to 2023, posting a 4.15 ERA, striking out 112 with 52 walks and holding opponents to a .208 batting average. He missed all of last season recovering from Tommy John surgery. He originally was chosen in the seventh round of the 2015 draft.
In Gasper, the Twins are getting a 29-year-old who made his major league debut last season and appeared in 13 games with Boston. The switch-hitter was selected by the New York Yankees in the 27th round of the 2018 draft. He was picked by Boston in the minor league portion of the 2023 Rule 5 Draft.
The Red Sox and Twins both currently have 39 players on their 40-man rosters.
Coming into this winter, it was imperative for the Boston Red Sox to make multiple impactful moves following a disappointing finish to the 2024 season. And in light of the Yankees making several key pivots following Juan Soto’s departure, inactivity from Boston through another offseason wasn’t an acceptable option.
Well, slowly but surely the Red Sox are putting together a solid offseason and starting to look like a team that is serious about getting back to the postseason in 2025.
The Red Sox’s biggest changes have been in their rotation, where they’ve had a serious overhaul. Adding starting pitching was the top priority for chief baseball officer Craig Breslow, and the Red Sox added arguably the best starter on the trade market in Garrett Crochet from the Chicago White Sox. But it takes more than one starter to get through the 162-game grind of the regular season.
The Red Sox then added left-hander Patrick Sandoval, who’s recovering from Tommy John surgery, and they solidified their veteran presence on Monday by adding right-hander Walker Buehler on a one-year, $21.05 million deal. Buehler, who was No. 23 on Yahoo Sports’ list of this winter’s top 50 free agents, brings to Boston’s rotation a veteran arm who has pitched on baseball’s biggest stages and experienced plenty of success. His 18 postseason starts are the most on Boston’s roster by far.
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Buehler, 31, had other offers, including a few multi-year deals, sources told Yahoo Sports. But the fit and the opportunity to play for a franchise such as the Red Sox while continuing to rebuild his value after a strong postseason was difficult to pass up, and now the pairing is a win for both sides.
At this point, the Red Sox rotation looks like a combination of Crochet and Buehler followed by 2024 All-Star Tanner Houck, Bryan Bello and Lucas Giolito, who missed all of last season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. Kutter Crawford and Garrett Whitlock are also options to start. As the Dodgers showed en route to their World Series championship, you can never have too much pitching depth, and such depth will now be a strength for Boston.
With the rotation solidified, the Red Sox’s biggest need the remainder of this winter is a right-handed bat. So as we close 2024, the question now is which bat?
Boston missed out on Soto and several of the top free agents on the position-player market. Yhere are still a few impact players who would fit. Case in point: Teoscar Hernández, Anthony Santander and Alex Bregman are all still available.
Bregman seems like the player who would make the Red Sox’s offseason feel most complete. The two-time World Series champion is unlikely to return to Houston after the team signed first baseman Christian Walker, and Fenway Park would be an excellent fit for Bregman’s offensive profile. It’s not difficult for fans to imagine Bregman in Boston, where he could tap into his pull-side power again.
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What’s more, Bregman could play second or third base, which would give Boston flexibility to decide if the Red Sox really want to follow through on the plan to play Rafael Devers at first base and trade Triston Casas or if they’d rather keep Devers at third and Casas at first and have Bregman play second for the first time in his career.
The Red Sox’s place in the American League’s pecking order has definitely improved this offseason, particularly with teams such as the Astros and Guardians, two of the top squads in the league the past few years, retooling their rosters and the Baltimore Orioles relatively inactive thus far. If one or two more moves fall into place for the Red Sox, it’s reasonable to expect them to make a significant leap in the standings next season.
While the Celtics’ 18th NBA championship commanded the Boston sports spotlight in 2024, it was far from the only game in town.
Boston Globe photographers were on assignment at sports events just about every day of the year, from high school complexes to Fenway Park, TD Garden, Gillette Stadium, and all kinds of venues in between.
Here’s a look at the year in sports through the lens of the Globe’s sports photographers.