The Rundown: Holden Defies MBTA Law, Worcester Crime Stats Debate | Radio Worcester

“It’s more like a Tonka truck being run over by a real dump truck. It’s not an equal collision here.”
— Mark Henderson on Holden’s clash with the state over the MBTA Communities Law

By-Hank Stolz

Photo-Radio Worcester

Worcester, MA- The Rundown features Mark Henderson from the 016.com and Tom Marino from This Week in Worcester. They look at the biggest, local, stories of the week. First up was the town of Holden’s decision to vote against a zoning plan mandated by the MBTA Communities Law, which set the town on a direct legal collision course with the state.

Mark Henderson, who attended the special town meeting, explained that Holden’s no-vote on the MBTA zoning plan was a result of a coalition of interests, including support for a local farm, personal political grudges, and a general spirit of defiance against the state. He asserted this would lead to a lawsuit that the town would almost certainly lose. “And to say that there’s going to be a collision, it’s more like a Tonka truck being run over by a real dump truck, right? So it’s not an equal collision here…”

The second topic involved a critical look at the Worcester Police Department’s recently released crime statistics, with the speakers questioning the lack of context and deep analysis from city officials. Tom Marino argued that the presentation of Worcester’s declining crime statistics was a “stage show” by the city council, which failed to ask critical questions about the context, such as the relationship between police actions and crime rates, civil liberties, or the effectiveness of specific police tactics.”Can we get any information besides looking at crime stats and pretending like that tells us something? It tells us something. It tells us a very slim piece of the picture.”

Mark Henderson raised the point that the drop in crime occurred while the police department was significantly understaffed, suggesting that investments in technology might be a key factor and questioning the automatic assumption that more officers were needed.