POLICE INVESTIGATING SHOOTING
On Sunday, April 26, at 8:57 PM, Chelsea officers were dispatched to the rear of 855 Broadway for a report of a male victim suffering from a gunshot wound. Upon arrival Officers observed a male victim sitting on the sidewalk with a gunshot wound to the right thigh. The victim was alert and stated that he had been shot after being attacked by two males that he could not describe after a robbery attempt.
The victim was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital and was treated for non-life-threatening injuries. Chelsea Detectives are actively working the case and believe the incident was isolated based on the lack of cooperation from the victim. If anyone has any information on this incident they are asked to call Chelsea Police case detective at 617-466-4826
BREATHALYZER TESTS CHECK OUT OK
A review of approximately 39,000 breath test results by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Public Safety and Security has found no evidence that breath test instruments in use in the Commonwealth are functioning improperly.
The concerns developed last week in several counties of the state by several District Attorney offices, including DA Dan Conley in Suffolk County.
The review identified a small percentage of breath test results that, due to operator error, were found to be invalid under Massachusetts regulations, which are more stringent than those set by the manufacturer. The invalid calibration test results did not stem from a malfunction with the breath test instruments themselves.
“Motor vehicle operators and the law enforcement community must have faith that breath tests are accurate and reliable, and we have taken the steps necessary to make sure that is the case,” said Secretary Daniel Bennett.
Massachusetts regulations require instrument operators to validate the tests with a calibration range between .074 and .086. This is more stringent than the setting assigned by the manufacturer of the Draeger 9510, which is the breath test instrument used by Massachusetts law enforcement. The Executive Office of Public Safety review found that in fewer than 150 cases, breath test personnel should have deemed the test to be invalid because the values were found to be outside the acceptable tolerance range set by Massachusetts regulations, even though they were within the manufacture’s calibration range.
The review also determined that when the Commonwealth transitioned its breath test instruments to the current model in 2011 it failed to request that Draeger customize its instruments to comply automatically with the requirements of the Massachusetts regulations. This required breath test instrument operators to complete an additional manual step to validate results using the Massachusetts standards.
At Secretary Bennett’s request, the manufacturer has agreed to update the instruments with a software patch so that the margin of error coded into the instrument is identical to that required under Massachusetts regulations, reducing the potential for operator error. In the meantime, all breath test operators will be instructed again of proper breath test calibration standards until the software changes take effect.
The Executive Office of Public Safety is currently working with the appropriate District Attorneys to identify each individual whose breath test was affected by operator error.
Chelsea Police, nor other departments in the area, believe that any of those cases in question are in their jurisdictions.
DA CONLEY TO DC
Suffolk County District Attorney Dan Conley testified Wednesday, April 29, before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Information Technology. Conley was one of three DAs nominated for the task by the National District Attorneys Association; he was selected by the Committee and was one of several witnesses to testify on potential US policy responses to cell phone encryption technology that cannot be broken by anyone – not even law enforcement officials with a valid search warrant signed by a judge. Conley also spoke about the detrimental effect this would have on American criminal prosecutions, which increasingly depend on digital evidence such as that obtained from cell phones.