Boston Police Chief Slams ACLU for Suing Over Gang Database

Boston Police Commissioner William G. Gross fired back at the “paper warriors” of the ACLU over attempts to force the department to put an end to its gang database.

Gross accused the civil rights law firm of turning a blind eye to the “atrocities” committed by gangs and said the group is out of touch with the actual pain the people in the communities face every day because of gang violence, the Boston Herald reported.

“No ACLU present when we have to explain to a mother that her son or daughter was horribly murdered by gang violence,” Gross said in a Facebook posting.

“No ACLU when officers are shot. No ACLU when we help citizens,” the chief continued. “Despite the paper warriors, we’ll continue to do our jobs.”

Gross was responding to the Boston ACLU’s claims that the Boston Police Department may be breaking privacy laws with its gang database. The civil rights group also claims that BPD is too secretive with its records and won’t allow the public to see how they gather info. The ACLU also says that the database affects a “disproportionate” number of minorities.

In his Facebook post, Gross additionally slammed the ACLU for coddling the vicious MS-13 gang.

“I sure as hell didn’t see the ACLU in El Salvador working to find a solution to our youth being inducted into the MS-13 gang …,” he said adding that he did travel to El Salvador and “took a hell of a risk while doing so.”

Gross continued to pound the civil rights group saying that they were not around when his department sponsored 22 youth programs to curb gang atrocities and even chided the group for not having the “common decency” to offer condolences when a Boston policeman was shot in the face.

In fact, he slammed the ACLU for trying to disrupt the crime scene when officer John Moynihan was shot in the face on March of 2015.

“I sure as hell saw a member of the ACLU in the background taking pictures as a certain group tried to crash through the crime scene three hours later,” the chief said.

Gross concluded his broadside saying, “No ACLU when officers are shot. No ACLU when we help. But always hiding and waiting for a slow news day to justify their existence.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.