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In a wide-sweeping public safety question and answer dialogue with the ACLU while running for re-election for Boston City Councillor in 2019, current Senate candidate Lydia Edwards has stated her position against local police cooperation and involvement with the Federal Joint Terrorism Task Force. Edwards is a candidate for state senate in the Revere, Winthrop, Cambridge, and Boston district.
The Joint Terrorism Task Force is primarily responsible for investigating potential terrorist related threats and activities like 9/11. Members of the Task Force, our country’s front line of defense against both domestic and international terrorism, also seek coordination with local police departments to prevent violence and death. When asked if she “supports efforts to end BPD collaboration with the Joint Terrorism Task Force, as the City of San Francisco has done,” Edwards answered, “Yes.”
Revere Police Chief David Callahan disagrees with Edwards on suspending cooperation between local police and the federal task force, stating that, “the Boston Marathon bombing and 9/11 attacks happened in our backyard mainly because of poor communication and coordination between federal and state law enforcement. Those were dark, awful days. Local, state, and federal law enforcement need to work collectively to prevent terrorist attacks and save lives. We cannot slide back to those days of disorganization and poor communication. That would be very dangerous to our communities.”
In the past, Edwards has also sought and received the endorsements of “Our Revolution” and the “Democratic Socialists of America,” organizations that advocate for the defunding and restructuring of local police departments.
The questionnaire was written by the ACLU of Massachusetts, Boston Users’ Union, Cosecha, Council on American-Islamic Relations-Massachusetts (CAIR), Digital Fourth, Families for Justice as Healing, and Student Immigrant Movement (SIM).
