Of course no Malden Residents NOOOOO ! There is no crime here either Michael it's only an illussion. I dont go to Facebook Its just a playground for middle aged people. I use Twitter just for the big news stations and updates on NOAA are awesome.

hey even Blloomturd himself says every community has crime, but tis pretty comical these days.....its the denial that really pees you off. Accept it, deal with it and move on, nothing to see here.....could be worse, they are shooting in shifts in town.

Michael I totally agree with you. I think what goin on here is all of the City are puppets for outside developers. Keep things quiet shhhhhhhh! Dont make any noise. All you got to do is connect the dots. "Malden The Best Place To Raise Your Kids" and the write ups in News Media "Malden a Great Place to Live" Just look at the news clip Victim Shot Minor Injuries. Geeses he was shot! Dont put frosting on it. I heard this whole thing on the scanner and the police were on this real quick. Its only going to go on and on never ending. Where's the cams? Where's the technology? Where's the extra Police?

Another shooting is a terrible thing. And the fact that these recent incidents remain largely unaddressed by the city's officials is, IMO, not at all a sign of the most important change that many of us were hoping for with the "retirement" of last incumbent.

But...everytime I read your posts, Michael G, whether it's appropriate to the topic of the article or not, I can't help but think of this book ("Night Watch" by Terry Pratchett) and the underlying messages/theme.

"Vimes had spent his life on the streets, and had met decent men and fools and people who'd steal a penny from a blind beggar and people who performed silent miracles or desperate crimes every day behind the grubby windows of little houses, but he'd never met The People.
People on the side of The People always ended up dissapointed, in any case. They found that The People tended not to be grateful or appreciative or forward-thinking or obedient. The People tended to be small-minded and conservative and not very clever and were even distrustful of cleverness. And so the children of the revolution were faced with the age-old problem: it wasn't that you had the wrong kind of government, which was obvious, but that you had the wrong kind of people.
As soon as you saw people as things to be measured, they didn't measure up."

I agree with Phe. Frothing at the keyboard and slamming projects which are helpful* as if it's an either or isn't winning you any converts to your side. Cameras won't help prevent crime. More police won't prevent crime. If you think it will, you're likely to think putting a bandaid on will prevent an injury. The issue is systemic and it's at the community level, the problem is us and our apathy. I've been here for two years and I like Malden so far, but like the last place I lived in(Troy,NY) it needs investment. Without economic development and improving the appearance of the city you will always have crime.

*if you don't understand how food trucks and youth programs can help a city reduce crime, maybe you should step back and take a breath.

Michael, you were involved in a cover up? How? With who? Please enlighten us.

Is this the same or did another shooting occur at the skatepark on Willow St. as reported on boston.com/malden? I have told officials and police the skatepark has those who do their bad things behind the park and put the good kid skaters at risk. It has been reported the shooter came from the back over the hill and started shooting. One teen was shot in the ankle. Poor kid may not be able to walk let alone skate. Can you check on this, Chris?

That is terrible Annie. Haven't read anything except what this paper has about either shooting.

I don't think you could classify that as an "outing". Unless Malden has had an influx of female bloggers, who are in the military, love the arts, live in Maplewood, had that awful experience with the dirty needles, has a badass attitude, and of course the dead giveaway, refers to her favorite super market as "stop & rob" it wasn't that difficult to figure out.

Annie the Scanner said Suffolk Street but I think you could be correct not far from where the other killing to place about a year ago. They were looking for a black person with a white shirt. The person last year was a Black Man From Roxburry I think that was killed with gunfire.

C'mon folks, 50 posts and they haven't even finished stitching up the guy....Boston had 10 people shot yesterday, Malden had one... relatively speaking, we are doing OK.. Now where can i find one of those food trucks or street entertainers people are talking about??

So I looked at the number of funded police patrolman on the city website. According to the 2009 budget, there were 80 patrolman funded. This year, with the addition of the new officers, there are 78 funded.

So much for adding more police. The only thing that is being done, is they are finally refilling positions that were held empty. What a joke this place is. I'd love to know how many of the 78 positions are are actually filled. In sure there are some empty with money going back to the city.

PHE I didn't attack you either. Chill out. I think your correct about the food trucks there really swat teams in disguise. Or maybe we can get a hot dog with musterd n fries while we watch people get shot. Thats IT! I read the story in the Boston.Com said it was in the skate park and he was shot in the ankle as well as being only a 17 year old. Now had the food truck been there it would have stopped the bullet and ended up in a fish fillet samwich. Now he was shot in the ankle so maybe that person was skateboarding with him ,had a gun and misfired. Or he was shot at from a distance and the bullet dropped into the ankle area. Things have gotten bad here but I dont think we are at the point where someone wants to do a hit on a 17 yr old.

Geeesh This Patch is getting like a Lynch Mob. Phe yes you did correct me on my spelling on another post but I was ok with it and explained that I just lost the Retina in my left eye. Cant see the Keyboard. If I offended you My Deepest Sincere apologies to you. Im just a "Dirty Ol Man" and really bitter. I hang out at the Mall with all the other dirty ol men and dribble coffee on my shoes. We all ride up n down the esculators all day for fun!

Ok now that we kicked the heck out of this story what do we do now. Why do we need Food Trucks anyway with all the fine resturaunts. We used to call them Roach Coaches, A Rolling Heart Attack,Grease On Wheels. Expand the Farmers Market and chomp on an apple or a tomater. Eat Healthy.

Here is an interesting story about food trucks and how they can hurt a city.
http://menlopark.patch.com/articles/fast-food-trucks-in-the-proposed-downtown-market-place

Just curious? I wasn't able to make it to the Feast this weekend. Were there any food trucks there?

Public safety took a back seat for years here in Malden and this is what happens. When numers are not accurate and information is kept from people this is what happens. When you cut departments for your own agenda this is what happens. When you allow people inside these departments to treat it as their own kingdom this is what happens. When you have double standards this is what happens. I don't blame the police that patrol our neighborhoods for this I actually feel bad for them.

Andrew.... Agree 100%

The mayor has done an excellent job on many initiatives he has undertaken. However, when it comes to public safety, it gets an F. When he was campaigning I remember reading he wanted to "bolster the ranks of the police department." Acording to public budgets, we have not even matched the number of police we had had 4-5 years ago.

Violent crime has gone no where but up. Us citizens are not only in danger, but the police are as well.

Speaking of danger to the police officers. Has anyone listened to the condition of the radio system that the police are using? It is pathetic to say the least. This problem has been going on for months. Half the time they can't understand or here each other, neither can the dispatcher. They use this company called Cybercom for there radio maintenance. Cybercom has been in I don't know how many times to fix the problem, with no results. The last time they were in they lesf at 3:30 right on the nose after their 8 hours was up, yet the problem wasn't fixed. When an officer on the street questioned about when the tech would have the problem fixed, dispatch told him that the tech had left for the day and would be back on Monday. The radio system is still in the same situation, it's a mess. Anyone who has a scanner knows this, as the only way you can here them is to have the volume turned up almost all the way, and you still have to listen thru all kinds of static and backround humming. So where is the priority in officer safety, at the food trucks?

I would love for Chris to interview some police officers. Not a spokesman or a supervisor but a real police officer.

I have respect for our new Mayor. I applaud what he has done so far, however, public safety should have been his lst priority, and it clearly has not been.

Violence in Malden is out of control! ALL Malden officials need to do their damn jobs and address the citizens of Malden about the violence that now seems non-stop! Stop the damn flower planting and sugar coating the violence and address us! Enough is enough! I don't blame them for the violence, but I blame them for their silence! (And people, cut the “Malden is not that bad” postings. I don't care to hear "But it happens in every city.", “Get out if you don’t like it!”) I don’t give a damn about other cities. Malden is my city! I grew up here! I’ve earned the right to make my feelings known. Our politicians do not own Malden just because we voted for them. Again, I’m not blaming our elected officials for the almost every day violence that now takes place in Malden! They didn’t pull the triggers, or hold the knives, but it ticks me off when they do not address the issues that we are held hostage to. So read my post before you blast me, (and if you do, I really don’t give a damn.) but they have an obligation to US, the citizens of Malden, to address this madness! Can you hear me now Mayor Christenson, Councilors’ Bucci, Anderson, Kinnon, Murphy, Nestor, Matheson, Ultrino, Crowe, Spadafora, Lucy, and D’Arcangelo? Which one of you will step up to the plate first, and make this your priority?

That's too bad. because they are the one's who know what's happening.

I have to live in this city, a city that I once loved, and grew up in. Citizens of Malden have been held hostage for years by "the same-family-and-friends" politicians. It is non-stop! It never ends. I know, deep in my heart, that these are
the people who ruined Malden. But I, like every other person who grew up in Malden, have no other choice than to deal the cards that we are dealt with, because un-educated people either vote them into office, continue to vote them back in even though they did nothing to make Malden a better place to live, or worse, don't vote at all. It makes me sick! But I will not stop speaking out until the people in Malden wake up! I love my city. However I am not blind, and it p_sses me off when our politians pretend that we live in a safe city. We do not! Do your damn job that we voted you into office to do, or get he h_ll out! I am tired of paying for your life time pensions when you never earned a penny of it!

Carol-

How exactly is this not a safe city? How many more police will it take before you feel safe? If we hired 10 cops do you think one of them would have been there to stop the shooting? I walk around here all the time and have never felt "unsafe". Now if you said this place looks like a dump.... That would be a different story.

Michael G for Mayor!
HAHAHAHA

Bring back the guardian angels

batten down the hatches!

Andrew25, You can't be serious? You call Malden a safe city? You are entitled to your opinion, but I disagree with you. Malden has an upstanding police department. I respect what they do, however we need more of them on the streets. No, they could not have prevent the shooting, but there would be less violence if there were more police officers. I grew up in Malden Andrew25. Still live here. I've seen the change over the years. When I will not walk the streets after dark, that is a pretty sad thing. And yes, I agree with you that Malden looks like a dump.

I cant stop laughing. Toni and Michael running the city. I'm sorry but you might need some serious help buddy.

I feel safe. But like another said, the city looks like a dump. I wish you would focus your enengy on the cleanliness of the city. Ward 8 especially. Pot holes as speed bumps, thats ridiculous. Its gonnna take years to recover from the Howard admin

Focus our energy on the cleanliness over the violence in our city? You cannot be serious. I was only kidding when I said that the city is a dump. It may not be as clean as we would all like it to be, but the entire city is not a dump. Only certain areas. But to say that we should focus our energy on the cleanliness over the violence, is just plain ignorant! That is the mentality of Malden. Let’s all pretend that the crime is not bad and focus on the pretty flowers.

Some more ways we can reduce crime in Malden, with some sources:
1) Improve police equipment since this has been mentioned in comments, having the latest tech is always a good thing. And if the police department isn't fully staffed like someone mentioned, it should be. But, adding more and more police will only do so much.
2) Improve street lighting, dunno about you guys but it sucks where I am.
Source: http://lrt.sagepub.com/content/33/1/3.short
3) Juvenile Offender programs are an excellent economic investment (but I suspect this is state-level) http://cedar.mo.networkofcare.org/library/costbenefit.pdf (washington state specific but good info).
4) In London, improving the security systems of small businesses helped reduce crime against them. I'm sure you all remember when everyone came together for that convenience store? (http://tna.europarchive.org/20100413151441/http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/prgpdfs/fcpu45.pdf)
5) Previously mentioned by Phe and myself: Design-Out Crime and Broken Windows Theory -- Reduce graffiti, fix the roads, fix the lights, fix the abandoned buildings and make Malden look like an environment where someone wouldn't commit a crime.

Ah Andrew25, you can vote for whoever the hell you wish. You get what you wish for. Andrew, I am thrilled for you that you feel so safe in Malden. Good for you! I don't. Plain and simple as that. I make no apologies to anyone because I speak the truth about Malden being a violent city. I've nothing to apologize for. But you, as a city councilor, need to do the job that you were voted in to do. Shame on you!

Oh, and Andrew25! I didn't answer your question. Salem Street would be a lovely place for you to walk! Enjoy the lovely view!

Why so nasty Carol? All I asked is where is it not safe to walk around Malden and what you think you're government can do about it. And yes there are a thousand things I would do in this city before I hired another police officer...including cleaning up the trash!

Why the nastiness Andrew25? Because, you've attacked me in the past for my opinions. If you wish to debate with me, call me at 781-322-8857. I am not sure what you issue is with me, other than the fact that I do not like your buddy NK. That is my right. He is not a nice person. But if you want to come after me, I am cool with that, I can handle it, but be a man and tell me your real name. The fact is that Malden have become a very violent city. Stop denying this fact. It is not safe. Perhaps because you are a man, you feel safe. I, as a woman do not. That is my right.

I do not like cowards Diana. If Andrew25 has an issue with me, I prefer a face-to-face conversation. My name and number is all over the internet. Just Google me. Not hard to find me.

I have to agree... You should take your number down.

Diana and Andrew25, I am a wedding officiant. My name and number is everywhere on the internet. Anyone can find me. A phone call is not going to hurt me, but a walk down Salem Street will. Thank you for your concern for my well being.

Now can we get back to the issue about the violence in Malden? The article is about another person being shot in Malden.

"The teen was among a group hanging out at the Willow Street skateboard park, when an unknown suspect approached the group from a nearby hill, police said." ~ Source: Boston.com http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/malden/2012/08/malden_teen_shot_at_malden_ska.html

A nearby hill? You two do not find this disturbing? That is the focus on this article. I am not, so why Andrew25 turned it into a conversation about me, I am not sure, but he is always welcome to call me and explain it to me. (although I believe that I am already aware of why, but wanted to give him the benefit of being a man and speaking to me directly.)

Chris, any idea when the next chat is with the mayor? Any chance you could suggest a public safety theme and perhaps ask him to invite the police chief. Maybe he wont have a "prior commitment" this time..

"Do I have to name the other 998?" Yes Andrew. That would be nice. Let's see where your priorities are as Malden City Councilor? It is certainly not with the crime issues because you feel so safe in Malden. You asked. I answered.

Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed today?
How bout some nice concrete sidewalks instead of the crap asphalt ones I have now?
Easier to wash the blood off! 997....ding!

No, actually my dear, I am in an awesome mood today! Thanks for your concern though. You have the in's to get your street repaved to nice concrete sidewalks. What is holding you back from getting this done? You guys never do any other time.

Way to go Andrew25! 997 more to go! Ding! Will crime in Malden be last on your list as a priority?

Malden: A small enough town that this website can get waaaaaaaay personal

Crime will solve itself as we go down the list. We should rent canal space to build a marina like they have in Medford and Somerville. That would be awwwwwsome!

DannyBoy, thank you for your concern. I appreciate your message. However, I do not allow anyone to bully me, and that is Andrew25's intention. He does not like me because I dislike him, "if" he is the person that I believe that he is, or because I do not like his bully friend who sits on the Malden City Council and talks down to everyone. Quite frankly, I am tired of his cowardness. If he has an issue with me, he needs to face me. I could care less if he likes me or not, but he needs to man up and explain to me why. I said that I am not concerned about my phone number being out there. I advertise all over the internet as a wedding officiant, so I am not worried about this. If I were, I would not have posted my phone number. I am giving Andrew25 an opportunity to debate with me on why he feels that Malden is a safe place to live. It is his right to feel that way, but I feel differently. My right as well.

Thank you again for your concern.

Alright everybody, Dad here. Let's take a deep breath and resolve that we are all Maldonians here, and, as Bill & Ted have taught us: be excellent to each other.

Diana, where is it getting personal? I've posted nothing about my private life. I have commented about my anger about the violence in Malden getting out of control. Mr. Andrew25 made is personal, not I. Do you expect me to sit back and not answer back? Sorry, but that is not my style. I don't hide issues and pretend that they are not there.

Please Carol, if I had to base who I like on whether they like me I wouldn't like anyone! And you obviously have no idea who I am. We should dedicate the salemwood to students who can't speak English so they don't slow down the rest of the students.

Based on your comment Andrew25 I know exactly who you are! But then again, you have to live with yourself.

Diana, really? Why not put your full name?

Alright, I'll cry uncle! But only because it would be way to difficult to come up with 995 more things before I would hire a police officer!

You mean we should dedicate the Salemwood to students who can't speak English so they don't slow down the rest of the students in your charter school Neil? Oops! Sorry! I meant to say Andrew25! My mistake! You have to live with yourself with these kinds of thoughts and actions that you have. I feel bad for you. How is it that you go to church every Sunday with a clear conscience?

No Diana, you are just a coward!

Meggle, I grew up in Malden. You only just moved here recently. I know Malden inside and out. Too soon for you to be speaking about what you believe to be a safe city. It is not.

I am indeed!

Allllllllllllllright. Let's just agree everyone is terrible and be done with it, eh?

Thank you Mr. Chris! However, I am sorry that I cannot say that I am a terrible person, because I am not! But I respect your wishes and adore you! Cheers and thank you for always doing a wonderful job! :)

Carol keep it up. I agree a thousand percent.

Agreed carol. You have the rest of them to shame tonight. Good for you!

*put them to shame

Thank you Howard the Duck!

Thank you Ed. I am not grandstanding by any means. I knew that I would receive the responses that I did from a certain few. That is O.K. I can deal with this. If the City of Malden continues to address the fact that the violence in Malden "is not" out of control, I will continue to voice my opinion. I earned this right. It won't get me anywhere, and that is O.K. If we put the pressure on them to address it, hopefully they will. I said it at the top of this story that I like our current Mayor. I really do. But I do not understand why the crime in Malden is not at the top of his list. That makes me sad. I could be wrong, but when I read about all of the other great things that he is doing, I do not consider them a priority when it comes down to the crime in Malden. My opinion. My right.

Diana, you are such a charm! ;0

You are right Carol. I really like him as well and think he is doing a great job with two exceptions. The first being public safety/police. The future of this city starts with the police department and the whole administrations devotion to public safety.

The second major disapproval I have is trash situation. The current practices contribute to this place appearing as a 5.1 sq mile dump. I dont care about paying, but something needs to be done.

He is awesome Ed. What I love about our new mayor is that he is out and about and not hiding in his office. He is walking the streets and socializing with the citizens of Malden. I understand that he is new and has a huge mess to clean up after our former mayor. I just wish that he would put the increase of violence in our city his priority. That is my only issue.

Now, if he does allow the $2.00 increase in those horrible blue bags that we pay for, I will, once again, speak up. These bags are aweful! They fall apart.

Wow, if my researched opinions and facts don't count because I haven't been here long enough, I don't particularly see the point in sticking around. If no one wants to back up a single claim they make, that's too bad. I'll continue to find facts and draw my opinions from them...

And if the crime numbers are cooked, prove it to me. All that matters are facts. We can argue back and forth as long as we like but without providing hard evidence beyond a gut "feeling" it's pointless. It's well known that peoole's perception of crime is incredibly skewed. Nationally, 68%
of people believe crime to have risen across the united states while the fact is it has gone down. Go ahead, look it up. It's a gallop poll from 2011. It's a well known phenomena, and one you need to be aware of when discussing crime. Nobody will convince anyone else without supporting themselves with facts that they can source.

Until you guys are interested in discussing actual facts and actually helping reduce crime using well researched methods, I'll bow out. I'm clearly too "new" to this town to have a worthwhile opinion.

Meggie do not give up so easily. The city needs more people who not only debate these issues but come to the table having done some real studying. It needs those who post and have legitimate idea's. Many are well intentioned yet simply so emotional that they cannot think logically however over time you will influence many who will never post if you do it without the crazy knee jerk reactions and with real information backed up as you say. So where I disagree completely with you is that more police and camera's (when used effectively which this city has yet to do consistently) do reduce crime. History is important and Malden has grown over the last thirty years in population and our police force is smaller. This is not good. Our population has changed and so has the world. You are correct that crime has come down nationally, over the last twenty years(but not over the last 50 years to 60 years, why is that) but there are way more guns floating around here than when I was a kid and the chance of being killed goes up with that for everyone. More cops, more camera's, more youth programs and more jails that keep the real offenders behind bars forever like that guy who killed his girlfriend is what must happen. Keep up the blog don't give up. https://www.majorcitieschiefs.com/pdf/news/more_policing_does_matter.pdf

And yet another person fooled by goverment numbers.

Yeah this goverment thinks that if the un-employment rate goes down it means people went back to work, when in actuality all it means is that thousands of poeple are no longer recieving benfits, but still don't have jobs. Mostly because Obama's illegal friends took the jobs.

The Mayor's Monthly Public Safety Meeting

Monday, August 27, from 6:00PM-8:00PM, at Lincoln Commons on Cross Street.

Maybe those who have questions and concerns should go to this meeting? I know I plan to be there.

Malen is still a nice city to live in .... but the point is .... there are too many young people are hanging to much and all about getting high and drinking and they are not well educated .... back then in 70's 80's and the 90's ... we didn't have to worry so much like to todays ...... but i know Malden is a good city and a nice place to rasied your children .... we as the parents have teach them and educated them very well ..... if .... you hurting them at the end of the day !

it sad ... but life must go on !

The PAYT is a done deal already. The bags will go up by $3. The task force that the Mayor wants to put together is just for show, it will only include people that agree with him. It's just a farce, he has no intention on getting us barrels as promised while campaigning. I hope MTFA gets involved again.

Dan: I can assure you the MTFA will be involved here one way or another. How hard do you think it will be to get this on the ballot again? Thanks to the Mayor, the numbers won't have to be the spoiler. It will be GONE if he has any ideas of not living up to his promises. One way or another, we will feel the relief. Now we'll see who wants to stand up and take credit for it. This is gonna be fun...stand by and watch the show.

@Annie,
I know this Mayor with his team thinks ahead. Will you be able to get it in the ballot this soon if he announces it in Sept?

I fear his paper task force will be announced in Sept then come back with the "Results" in Jan. Then would we have to wait two years?

I do not think they want it to go that long. Voting at the ballots while they are asking for a re-election is tricky.

We have to put it on a municipal election which would take us into 2013...just when the local elections take place. Gary is in for four years but no one else. Hey, I can wait but it just steams me up every week I put out my trash and reminds me to not give up. All it does is show who they are and there is no hiding from it. Actions speak louder than words.

As for keivn and Greg .... i'am well educated.... if you don't understand what i was saying ... ask before you say things that you don't understand .... i was referring to shooting in malden and the person who got stabbed ........ and i live in Malden for a long time ... I grad. in 1986 at Malden High School !

what ever you say ... and the conversations does not get any where..... so kevin and Greg ....... have a great day !... you don't win by judging !

Or by not understanding I guess.

Any updates Chris?

Thanks

Discourse like this is why I can't bring myself to blog here anymore :-/

I thought you were done with the Patch? Why don't you take the police exam or run for office?

The comments are quickly approaching the mayor's facebook # of followers. Would that be a frosting