Obviously the problem is the payphones

[AggieDave 6]

Payphones are dangerous, infact the City of Boston agrees and thinks the phones should be restricted, regulated and banned in some areas.

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2006/02/10/disconnecting_crime_in_boston/

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They went after guns. Then it was T-shirts. Now, in Mayor Thomas M. Menino's effort to make Boston's neighborhoods safer, officials have targeted a new possible accomplice in city crime: Pay phones.


Saying that pay phones attract drug dealers and prostitutes, city agencies are pushing for an amendment to the zoning code meant to restrict installation of coin-operated phones.

''What happens is [drug dealers] hang out there, the buyers come, make the deals," said Sal LaMattina, chairman of the East Boston Neighborhood Response Team. ''For some people that live in the neighborhood, they get a little nervous to walk by. They see the drug dealing that's going on."

Some community groups in South Boston and East Boston neighborhoods have complained about problems at some pay phones and say the measure would help in the city's effort to stem crime. But others say that pay phones across the city are a necessity, especially for residents who don't have access to cellphones or can't afford to maintain a phone at home.

City officials say that in some neighborhoods, pay phones have become way stations for crime. They are used both to set up deals and, in some cases, as drop-offs. Dealers often leave drugs in the coin-return slots for buyers to pick up, said Darryl Smith, the assistant commissioner for the city's Inspectional Services Department.
YOUR THOUGHTS: Are pay phones a problem?

Last week, the city removed three pay phones from Roxbury that police suspected were sites for drug deals, Menino said.

''It's another tool we're going to use," Menino said of the amendment.

Currently, only an electrical permit is needed to install a pay phone; the city's zoning code has no provisions regulating where they can go. Under the proposed amendment, business and building owners would be required to seek approval from the city's zoning commission unless the phone would be inside a building.

Boston Redevelopment Authority officials, who are hoping to get the amendment to the commission by March, say the measure will allow the community to decide where new pay phones go. Pay phone companies must register with the state Department of Telecommunication and Energy but are not required to disclose the number of pay phones they operate. Currently, 102 companies are registered statewide, said Tim Shevlin, the department's executive director.

''You can't tell from this listing whether they own one pay phone or 1,000," said Shevlin, ''or where they're located."

Several pay phone companies declined to comment or could not be reached yesterday.

Some community groups want pay phones from certain areas where there are high concentrations of crime and violence.

''We feel that pay phones in the areas that have been designated as hot spots are detrimental to the community because they foster prostitution and drug use," said Sandra Williams of Project RIGHT, Rebuild and Improve Grove Hall Together, a nonprofit grass-roots agency in Dorchester.

One pay phone owner, Jose Dominguez, who owns Blue Hill Superette in Roxbury, removed a pay phone outside his store six months ago, after coming under pressure from the city.

''There were a bunch of guys there doing nothing," Dominguez said. ''The pay phones only bring those kind of people."

But Steven Godfrey, director of Elm Hill Family Service Center in Roxbury, which provides care to low-income residents, said too many residents don't have the means for personal phones and removing them will put them a greater disadvantage.

''I'm talking about the real folks out there who live under $5,000 a year," Godfrey said. ''They need access to a pay phone."

In East Boston, more than 100 pay phones dot Maverick and Central squares, with one almost at every other business, said Ernest Torgersen, executive director of East Boston Main Streets, a commercial district revitalization program. Some of them are broken and in some of the cubicles, the phones are missing. Others have become magnets for mounds of garbage.

About 85 percent of them were installed illegally, without the required electrical permit, LaMattina said.

In transportation depots and areas frequented by elderly or disabled people, Torgersen said, pay phones are absolutely necessary for people who need to be picked up.

Lieutenant Christopher Stratton of Boston Emergency Medical Services said it is difficult to single out what pay phones should have precedence.

''They're all important as far as I'm concerned," he said, ''when it comes to calling 911."

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[justinb138 0]

They ever think about going after criminals?

[unformed 0]

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We feel that pay phones in the areas that have been designated as hot spots are detrimental to the community because they foster prostitution and drug use

brilliant

This ad space for sale.

[Airman1270 0]

Interesting. Another attempt to eliminate crime by applying a secular humanist legislative mind set. ("If we pass another law, drug dealing will cease," etc.)

One point about pay phones that has bugged me for years, ever since they did away with phone booths and just have the phone on an open stand. These phones are frequently placed near a highway or other busy road. It is damn near impossible to hear the person you're trying to talk with while traffic is rushing by a short distance away.

Doesn't anybody in a decision-making position even think about these things before installing these units?

Sigh,
Jon S.

[SkyDekker 1,465]

before spouting I suggest you look into cpted.

This article from a police officer may help...even gives further links at the bottom.

http://www.itd2.com/newsletter/Oct03/cpted.htm

I have first hand seen the positive results of cpted, but the story isn't sharable on an open forum.

edited to fix link

[AggieDave 6]

I am familar with the concept, but given the city's history of trying to ban things and hope the problem goes away, it seems a bit odd in this case.

--"When I die, may I be surrounded by scattered chrome and burning gasoline."

[Rebecca 0]

Why don't they just set up video across all the hot spots and nab themselves some scum?

The payphones will no longer be used by most drug dealers in the future, except the dumb ones who will be caught.

I mean, if they know it's a hot spot, why eliminate it so criminals can find somewhere else to go?

you've got to ask yourself one question: 'Do I feel loquacious?' -- well do you, punk?

[Gravitymaster 0]

What self respecting drug dealer uses pay phones anyway? Too 80's.

I thought they all had cell phones.

[kelpdiver 2]

pay phones are a bit more anonymous, even than stolen cell phones.

Often a partial step is taken by making the pay phones work for outgoing calls only.

[warpedskydiver 0]

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They ever think about going after criminals?

IF THEY DID WHO WOULD PAY KICKBACKS AND OR BRIBES?

[Gravitymaster 0]

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pay phones are a bit more anonymous, even than stolen cell phones.

Often a partial step is taken by making the pay phones work for outgoing calls only.

Pre-paid cell phones are completely anonymous and much more portable. Especially when you are arranging a big buy and the cops start busting people around you.