Area Legislators, Foxborough Dems to Talk Gun Violence

Foxborough Democrats to sponsor discussion of gun violence with area legislators and Foxborough Police Chief Edward O'Leary.

Foxborough Democrats will sponsor a discussion of gun violence on Monday, March 18 at 7 p.m. in the McGinty Room of the Foxborough Public Safety Building. Those invited to speak on the topic are State Representative Paul Heroux of Attleboro, Representative David Linsky of Natick, Representative Frederick “Jay” Barrows of Mansfield and Foxborough Police Chief Edward O’Leary, according to Foxborough Democratic Town Committee chair Dennis Naughton. Representative Linsky is the sponsor of H 3253, an act relative to further regulating the licensing, sale and possession of firearms and increasing the tax on the sale of firearms and ammunition. This bill has been assigned to the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, chaired by …

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Foxborough Police Awarded Grant for 5 Portable Breathalyzers

The portable breath test machines are said to increase the town’s protection against potential lawsuits claiming false arrests at Gillette Stadium events.

Foxborough police recently obtained five additional portable breathalyzers for the department through an insurance grant applied for by Deputy Chief John Chandler. The five breath test machines will be used primarily to improve police accuracy in determining whether patrons attending Gillette Stadium events are incapacitated before being taken into protective custody. “Rather than just having a few machines available where people are actually processed and booked, we have preliminary testing stations at the wagons where people are brought to and we encourage them, if they [claim they] are not impaired, to take the portable breath test, which would give us a more scientific method of determining whether they are incapacitated,” Foxborough …

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Public Safety Officials Look to Improve Traffic Flow, Reduce Custodies at 2013 Country Fest

Foxborough public safety officials are working with Gillette Stadium management on several initiatives to improve crowd safety and the overall impact Country Fest has on the community.

Editor's note: This is part I of a two-part series that looks into the public safety planning for the 2013 New England Country Music Festival, which will be held at Gillette Stadium on Aug. 23 and 24. Part II will take a closer look at traffic issues from the two-day music festival. Last summer, Foxborough Police made over 100 arrests and reported over 600 incidents over a two-day span during the 2012 New England Country Music Festival at Gillette Stadium. Foxborough Police Chief Edward O’Leary told reporters after the weekend concert series that better preparation led to the 102 arrests and over 500 protective custodies out of a crowd of 103,000 concertgoers that descended on Foxborough for the two-day music festival. “We had a plan, it …

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Foxborough Police Department Pursuing Statewide Accreditation

Foxborough would become one of just 59 departments in the Commonwealth to achieve certification or accreditation.

The Foxborough Police Department is pursuing something that has been achieved by only 59 of the state’s 351 communities: accreditation. “I like to think we are following the best practices that exist in policing and by obtaining this status it will make us one of 59 communities out of 351 in the state that have achieved [either certification or accreditation],” O’Leary said. FPD has spent the last several years pursuing certification as part of the statewide Accreditation Commission, according to O’Leary. “It’s not just developing policies to address issues but making sure our practices follow the policies so as to make sure the public gets the best service,” O’Leary said. The news of Foxborough's pursuit was shared at Tuesday’s Board of …

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Foxborough Police Chief Expects Medical Marijuana to ‘Escalate Criminal Activity and Dangerous Behavior’

Foxborough Police Chief Edward O'Leary says despite the recent approval of medical marijuana in Massachusetts he will not be an advocate for a medical marijuana facility coming to Foxborough.

Prior to November’s election, Foxborough Police Chief Edward O'Leary wrote a Letter to the Editor in the Foxboro Reporter as a citizen asking the town to join him in voting “No” on Question 3, which would "eliminate state criminal and civil penalties for the medical use of marijuana by qualifying patients.” “In states that have allowed the creative fiction of ‘medical marijuana,’ there has been an increase of drug use by teenagers, and an escalation of violent crimes in neighborhoods with dispensing stations,” O’Leary wrote in his letter to the Reporter. … “People would be violating Federal Law, as marijuana is considered an illegal drug at that level. In states that have allowed the hoax, healthy individuals have been found with ‘…

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Foxborough Joins Mansfield’s Conversation Regarding Safety at Comcast Center

Foxborough Police Chief Edward O'Leary and Fire Chief Roger Hatfield spoke with Mansfield town officials about safety issues and concerns at the Comcast Center.

MANSFIELD – Foxborough Chief of Police Edward O’Leary and Fire Chief Roger Hatfield each met with Mansfield town officials during Wednesday’s Board of Selectmen meeting to contribute to the town’s conversation involving security at the Comcast Center. According to Mansfield Patch, selectmen were engaged in a “heated discussion” at Wednesday’s meeting regarding the issue of security and alcohol at the Comcast Center in the wake of two deaths, an attempted rape charge and other violent incidents during these concerts. Mansfield selectmen reportedly spoke to many law enforcement officials in an effort to find effective ways to curtail drug use and alcohol consumption, primarily underage drinking. O’Leary and Hatfield were part of that …

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Poll: Should Massachusetts Legalize Fireworks?

After last week's Independence Day celebrations, we want to know what you think about legalizing fireworks in Massachusetts.

Thousands of people in the area were able to enjoy fireworks last week to celebrate the Fourth of July with local shows at Patriot Place, Walpole and Sharon. However, some took in illegal fireworks shot off by neighbors. While State Senator James Timilty (D-Walpole), who represents Foxborough, has expressed his opposition to legalizing fireworks, Foxborough's State Rep. Jay Barrows is open to the idea, partly because the majority of his constituency that he has talked to is in favor of legalizing fireworks. "I think we need to take a look at it," Barrows said of the issue. Calling the fireworks ban more of a "Nanny State" issue than a partisan issue, Barrows argued that the Commonwealth is losing revenue to Rhode Island and New Hampshire …

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Foxborough Officials Hear from Gillette Stadium Area Residents on New Parking Bylaw

Foxborough passed a bylaw that allows the town to fine people parking cars for a fee at the annual town meeting.

  Foxborough Police Chief Edward O'Leary and buiding commissioner William Casbarra reached out to residents in the Gillette Stadium area, affected by the parking bylaw passed the recent town meeting last Monday. The town voted to enforce a fine of $100 for vehicles parked by residents for a fee that hinders traffic in the area and causes a public safety problem. Read more of the story http://www.foxbororeporter.com/articles/2012/06/07/news/11596735.txt