Police Call Citizens Scumbags and Animals

By Mike Underwood
Boston Herald
Oct. 25, 2007

A furious mother caught in the chaos of a Roxbury house party where three cops were injured has slammed a police union newspaper for branding her family and friends “animals” and “scumbags.”

Tanya Cabral, 35, said Pax Centurion, the Boston Police Patrolmen’s Association paper, was wrong to print the remarks because eight people charged after the Aug. 18 Eastman Street party have not been convicted of anything.

In his editorial in the September/October issue, 25-year Boston police veteran Jim Carnell wrote: “Due to the violent actions of this crowd of scumbags, all available units from throughout the city were ordered to respond . . .” The story also referred to “200 animals who believe that they own the streets.”

“The name-calling is unreal,” said mother-of-two and city of Boston worker Cabral. “I’m waiting for a meeting with the commissioner and I’m bringing him that article.”

Carnell stands by his words. “It is too bad if she feels like that,” said Carnell of Cabral. The editor of Pax Centurion added: “We support the police version of events. (The article) was all taken from the (incident) report and from interviews with the guys who were there.”

Thomas J. Nee, president of the BPPA, supports Carnell.

“It was a commentary based on an actual event. I don’t find anything in it egregious. I can understand her sensitivity, but I don’t accept it,” he said.

Cops say they received numerous calls from neighbors fed up with noise from the party and visited the property four times. Police claim they were attacked when they went to shut it down, leaving three officers injured by flying beer bottles and fists.

But revelers claim cops knocked a 1-year-old to the floor, sprayed Mace at a father who was cradling his 2-year-old son and left one man with a gash that required six stitches.

The BPD internal affairs division is investigating five complaints filed by partygoers.