Methuen Police Chief Joseph E. Solomon.
Beginning today, residents will see more reminders about buckling up while driving.
Methuen is joining with 200 police departments across the state, along with Massachusetts State Police, taking part in the national “Click It or Ticket” campaign. It is organized through the Massachusetts Highway Safety Division and run through May 29.
“More people buckling up means more lives saved,” said Methuen Police Chief Joseph E. Solomon. “Our officers will be out enforcing the seat belt and child passenger safety laws so that fewer people are needlessly injured or killed in crashes in Methuen.”
According to the state’s annual seat belt study, drivers here wear seat belts at a lower rate than the rest of the country—78 percent compared to 90 percent. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration reports that out of the 172 people killed in motor vehicle crashes in the Commonwealth in 2015, 64 percent were not wearing seat belts.
“Seat belts save lives and too many people are not wearing them,” Mayor Stephen N. Zanni said. “We hope that our participation in this campaign will encourage more people to buckle up every time they get into a vehicle.”
Those wishing to schedule an appointment with Methuen Police to have a child seat installed, may call 978-983-8698.
Please Everybody. The impulse to reduce even the most benign campaign to red vs. blue politics is part of a larger impulse that is destroying our country. That a discussion of safety belts and infant car seats sets has set off folks in this forum to bash immigrants is baffling and extremely troubling. Scapegoating the most vulnerable among us is an agenda that’s out there; it doesn’t have to be ours. Think for yourselves. Read non-politically driven material. Again. Some FACTS:
—”Foreign-born individuals exhibit remarkably low levels of involvement in crime across their life course.” (Bianca Bersani, University of Massachusetts, 2014. Published in Justice Quarterly.) The crime rate among first-generation immigrants — those who came to this country from somewhere else — is significantly lower than the overall crime rate and that of the second generation,” they write.
Since undocumented immigrants are more than a quarter of the immigrant population, it’s nearly impossible that the overall-immigrant crime rate could be so much lower if the undocumented-immigrant crime rate were significantly higher.
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“There’s essentially no correlation between immigrants and violent crime.” (Jörg Spenkuch, Northwestern University, 2014. Published by the university.) He did find a small correlation between immigration and property crime, but only a slight one.
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“[I]mmigrants are underrepresented in California prisons compared to their representation in the overall population. In fact, U.S.-born adult men are incarcerated at a rate over two-and-a-half times greater than that of foreign-born men.” (Public Policy Institute of California, 2008.)
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“[D]ata from the census and a wide range of other empirical studies show that for every ethnic group without exception, incarceration rates among young men are lowest for immigrants, even those who are the least educated. This holds true especially for the Mexicans, Salvadorans and Guatemalans, who make up the bulk of the undocumented population.” (Ruben Rumbaut, University of California, 2008. Published by the Police Foundation.)
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“Analyses of data collected from four Southwest states and the U.S. Census show that the perceived size of the undocumented immigrant population, more so than the actual size of the immigrant population and economic conditions, is positively associated with perceptions of undocumented immigrants as a criminal threat.” (Xia Wang, Arizona State University, 2014. Published in Criminology.)
Well, Cee, we are talking about illegals. WE, those of us who work for a living, are paying for these invaders; in Massachusetts alone, a little less than $2 billion dollars each year for their care and feeding, and it is true that what we as citizens CANNOT get away with, illegals can do. Look at our schools — many young people cannot speak English – so our own kids suffer. We have immigration laws for a reason — and that reason is, how many people can we assimilate in a given period of time, are they willing to learn English, do they really want to assimilate, and do they want to harm us. Remember Kate Steinle? And how about Matthew Denice? What about Bampumim Teixiera? He was arrested recently for brutally slaying two Boston doctors, was a green card holder who law enforcement authorities say was released by a judge early in order to avoid being deported.
This is NOT red against blue, it is — how much can we afford to pay for people who break into the line ahead of legal immigrants with the expectation that the good old USA will pay for their every need, without going broke ourselves. And why is it necessary for citizens to follow the law when illegals tend not to follow the law?
Incidentally, I have NO PROBLEM with legal immigrants who follow the rules, and come into the US following the rules.
Regarding the issue of illegals committing violent crimes, and the likelihood their intentions are harmful ….
The information below is from The Cato Institute.
“The Cato Institute is a public policy research organization — a think tank — dedicated to the principles of individual liberty, limited government, free markets and peace. Its scholars and analysts conduct independent, nonpartisan research on a wide range of policy issues.Founded in 1977, Cato owes its name to Cato’s Letters, a series of essays published in 18th- century England that presented a vision of society free from excessive government power. Those essays inspired the architects of the American Revolution. And the simple, timeless principles of that revolution — individual liberty, limited government, and free markets — turn out to be even more powerful in today’s world of global markets and unprecedented access to information than Jefferson or Madison could have imagined. Social and economic freedom is not just the best policy for a free people, it is the indispensable framework for the future. In order to maintain its independence, the Cato Institute accepts no government funding.”
Its findings:
“Both the Census-data driven studies and macro-level studies find that immigrants are less crime-prone than natives with some small potential exceptions. There are numerous reasons why immigrant criminality is lower than native criminality. One explanation is that immigrants who commit crimes can be deported and thus are punished more for criminal behavior, making them less likely to break the law.
Another explanation is that immigrants self-select for those willing to work rather than those willing to commit crimes. According to this “healthy immigrant thesis,” motivated and ambitious foreigners are more likely to immigrate and those folks are less likely to be criminals. This could explain why immigrants are less likely to engage in “anti-social” behaviors than natives despite having lower incomes.”
Ahhh! Now you have changed the argument. Again I ask, what about Kate Steinle, Matthew Denice, and what about Bampumim Teixiera? He was arrested recently, for brutally slaying two Boston doctors, was a green card holder who law enforcement authorities say was released by a judge early in order to avoid being deported. Are the lives of Steinle, Denice and the two doctor’s worth nothing?
It goes without saying that humans killing each other is tragic and horrible. But Caucasian males comprise the largest group of violent offenders, and very much more statistically likely to be serial killers. So, according to your logic, What? Impound them all? I’d miss my husband.
My heart goes out to the families and friends of all victims of crime. Again, not sure how anti-immigrant rhetoric does anything to solve violent crime. It just distracts folks from what we as a nation need to do: better the lives of all. Better health care, better education, better access to opportunities = a better United States of America. An educated, healthy and prosperous nation is a safer, happier place. Let’s work toward that together, rather than wasting time on demonizing a particular demographic.
That Cato study left out entire bands of age demographics, including those who are no longer incarcerated. WBUR/NPR tried pulling that on me today, but never actually read the study. The data they used was cherry picked to meet a narrative, as per usual with most studies. Then again, I didn’t expect much from their journalist didn’t know Ed “from Maryland” Markey had a 30-year career in The House before being elected to The Senate. Which appears to be a pattern with WBUR, who tried running H-1B Visa pieces against mine, once again, cherry picking a singular data point to fit their narrative.
If you’re going to espouse a narrative, at least be able show that you did your own work, not someone else’s, especially as flawed as above.
On point: The crimes that Illegal Invaders commit would never happen were they not allowed in the country to commit them in the first place. A point State Senator Jamie Eldrige fails to recognize on a daily basis because he not only doesn’t care due to his ideology, but he’s never faced a victim or family member who was a victim of crime by an Invader. He knows he’s safe politically, and can afford to be an ideological asshole.
I’m truly sorry for whatever has happened to you to make you so full of hate.
Well stated Duncan – and factual. Your argument here is the difference between fact vs. interpretation as Cee provides. Cee – there is no hate here except those who come to this country and kill Americans and take advantage of benefits they are NOT entitled to – THAT is hate – please learn the difference.
So local municipalities will strictly enforce seat belt laws and ticket and fine people who don’t use them utilizing the full power of the police force.
However, if you’re in the city and an illegal immigrant mooching off the system – well, we’ve decided NOT to enforce that law.
Any one who does get ticketed in this “awareness” (aka crackdown) – should refuse to pay any fine at all.
Yes, makes perfect liberal sense.
Massachusetts Liberals love to pass laws taking away people’s rights to make their own decisions, especially when it comes to protecting people from themselves (seat belts, smoking, motorcycle helmets, wearing life vests on boats, etc.) But when it comes to acting to protect citizens against the number one threat to their safety, that is criminal trespassers in the country illegally, they do absolutely nothing.
Haverhill city councilor Andy Vargas even went so far as to issue a public statement advising illegals in Haverhill on how to ignore a directive by The President of the United States and the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement department. Think about that for a second. Andy has a sworn duty to protect the interests and laws of this country and there he was aiding criminals in the commission of a crime. If we lived in a state and country that enforced existing laws Andy would have been arrested for treason and sedition.
I realize this Jack , and it is sad. As Pat Buchanan was saying on the radio (the truth) – the cold war was won with strength and diplomacy, however, the culture war started in the 60’s in the colleges has now been lost to those who glorify socialism, communism, anti-christian, zero moral standards.
And unfortunately, there are just enough RINO’s who will go along with the America haters at home if it means they can (at least for now) keep their government jobs.
Yesterday, in the country of France – every American’s grave who died liberating that country was spit on. France is now done – its over. Our country better not ever send our soldiers over there again to help defend them once the Islamic terrorists fully take over – it’s their problem now.
The best thing you as an individual can do now is ensure you and your family are protected, remain strong in your faith, and continue to stand up for what is right.
Andy Vargas is persona non grata in Haverhill as far as I am concerned with his protection of criminal invaders.
What is OK for illegals is NOT OK for US Citizens. When do we get a break — other than paying for illegals, that is. The world has gone crazy! When is the citizenry going to be protected from these invaders?
Andy has certainly forgotten that HIS constituency is those US Citizens who live, work, and whose money does he think pays for all of these freeloaders. Everyone else is bupkis and he should NOT be concerned about them — regardless of his heritage. Andy Vargas works for us, we do not work for him — and ditto for the Mayor and the rest of the City Council.
SC…so well said!!
Andy pretends to have a constituency, Hispanics and young people, but he’s nothing more than yet another do-nothing, abide by the agenda driven liberal. There are two enormous issues in Haverhill which have affected these two groups and Andy has sat on the sidelines and said nothing.
If Andy was truly an advocate for young people how could he be in support of the criminal trespassers entering this country illegally bringing the drugs that are wiping out his generation? Worse yet, his public policy position is that he “defends” their right to be in the country illegally.
Where was Andy when a young Hispanic woman, close to his own age, was dragged into the woods at a city park and raped by two criminal trespassers in this country illegally? Isn’t that the “exact” constituent he represents? It’s such hypocrisy!!! I wonder if Andy would say something if it was his new wife who was in the park that day?
Methuen taxpayers are paying for child seats now?
The drug and gang problem in Methuen is at a crisis level from criminal trespassers in the country illegally spilling over from Lawrence and the chief of police is instructing his men to spend their time stopping vehicles to check on seat belts. Unbelievable…….