Brookline cops nab suspected shoplifters
My wife and I walked into a CVS store on the Brookline side of Commonwealth Avenue this evening and happened upon an unexpected scene. Seven Brookline police officers were in the process of detaining one black woman and one black man, both suspected of shoplifting if I correctly understood the interaction between the police officers and the detained woman, and statements made by a witness.
Items that the woman allegedly had lifted were strewn on the floor. “Are you sending me to jail for four things” the woman asked the cops, one of whom answered that there were at least twenty things. Most of the items seemed to be cold medicines. The woman then screamed she was pregnant and had been bleeding. At one point she attempted to partially undress.
The police officers handled the situation very professionally and remained calm, assertive and non-abusive the entire time, even though the woman refused to co-operate with their instructions (which basically were for her to stand up and not make a spectacle of herself). It’s not often one gets to see Brookline cops in action (what the heck happens in Brookline besides traffic violations) but based on this one incident I’d say Brookliners can feel pretty good about their cops.
Eventually they got her to stand up and they led both suspects out of the store. One of the store clerks thanked the cops and praised them for responding so quickly. It should be noted that the store workers handled the situation well, too.
I snapped the picture below with my cell phone camera. It is my hope that it is clear enough to be of some value to readers but blurry enough to not show too much. Remember that suspects are considered innocent until proven guilty by a court.
Seven cops responded to a shoplifting incident? That’s policing.
