Page 13 - Michael Flaherty News Today

A Boston City Council vote today will show the city which side it's on - gangs or the residents they prey on. It should be a no-brainer, but this being Boston, the choice is clouded by a progressive agenda.

Wu voted against the funding as a City Council member, but says that police operations have now changed enough that the money is warranted.

The City Council voted to approve $3.4 million in grant funding for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, after a lengthy discussion that determined the need for public safety outweighs past harms created by the entity’s gang database. 

“I know this has been a longtime coming for the community to have the solid guarantee that this space will be here forever more, preserved as a treasure of history in Boston,” Mayor Michelle Wu said of the North End's Nazzaro Community Center.

The vote caps off a political fight that's pitted the body's left wing against Mayor Michelle Wu, who was once the council's progressive standard-bearer.

All councilors who voted in favor of the grants were white, while all those who voted against them were people of color.

City Council approved funding for the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, a police operation that houses a much-maligned gang database.

Boston's Democrat-dominated city council voted against funding an investigative police unit as crime surges and law enforcement are understaffed.

Councilors and civil rights advocates have for years demanded more details about BRIC’s gang database.

By backing certain candidates, she is trying to build a power structure that makes it easier for her to deliver on her agenda.