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July 8, 2004
Commissioner Kathleen M. O’Toole
Boston Police Department
Boston Police Headquarters
1 Schroeder Plaza
Boston, MA 02120-2014

Dear Ms. O’Toole:
I am writing as a concerned citizen and father regarding a shooting that took place on Friday June 18, 2004 at 40 Blakeville Street in Dorchester. Shots were fired at my mother in law’s house, a window was shot out, and a family friend was injured.

This shooting took place the day after my son Carey Ried was released on bail from Nashua Street jail. Carey used to live at 40 Blakeville, and he has been charged in the death of a member of the Intervale Street gang. I think that Carey was the target of this shooting at Blakeville Street.

The police are saying that the shooting had nothing to do with Carey, his release, or the charges against him. I do not believe this because it seems like too much of a coincidence that the shooting occurred the day after Carey’s release. This shooting and the many others like it that occur in Dorchester, in Mission Hill, in Mattapan, deserve much more attention from the police than they get. I am sure that if this happened in Brookline or Wellesley, and if Carey were the son of a doctor or a lawyer, the police would be investigating the possible connections between the shooting and the charges against Carey.

Kids in neighborhoods like mine have to take matters into their own hands because protecting them is not a priority for the police. You wait until someone’s child gets killed and them come in and arrest someone. From where I stand, it seems like the police think that kids in Dorchester are going to shoot at each other anyway, so why bother to protect them? That’s not true, and my children deserve the same protection that you give to children in other parts of the city. Carey is a great kid who is in a terrible situation. How would you feel if he were your child?

I depend on you to protect my family. But you don’t. How can you blame these kids for defending themselves when you don’t protect them?

Please call my lawyer, Rosemary Scapicchio, because I deserve some answers. Her telephone number is 617-263-7400.

Sincerely,

Colin Ried