Middlesex District Attorney Marian Ryan

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
For thirty five years, Cindy Stumpohas been a female home builder with a
passion for design, a mastery ofdetail, and a commitment to her crack.
With daughter Samantha Stumpo by her side, I don't need my whole family
on a date with me. That'sa good note. It's goddemn weird.
See. Stumpo Development is the onlysecond generation female construction company in the country.
You're crazy, You're a wacko,You're insane. I mean, it

(00:23):
just doesn't end together. Cindy andSamantha welcome guests to explore the world of
construction, real estate, development,design and more. Here. I'm predictable.
Every time I think I know whatyou want, you switch it out.
But that's what makes your houses allyour day. Discuss anything that happens
between the roof and the foundation.Nothing is off limits. You truly do
care about everybody. She can yellat chicken screen, but when you get

(00:44):
her alone, she's the best personon the planet. Cindy Stumpo is tough
as nails. Welcome to Cidy StumpoTough as Nails on WBZ News Radio ten
thirty and I'm here tonight with Samantha. Who's this lovely woman. I'm Marion
Ryan. I have the privilege tobeing the district attorney for a Middlesex county.
Is that a good thing? It'sa great thing. You love your
Joe. I love my job.How long? Eleven years? Eleven years?

(01:11):
Eleven years and still get up andlove what you do? I do
love it. Now that position iswhat how do you get into that position?
It's an elected position with a fouryear term and we're on what you
know, I am just coming tothe middle of my second year of my
third term full term, so nowthis one we have to start going back.
I'm campaigning again and you've been therefor eleven years. Yeah, so

(01:34):
why would we change a good thing? Well, I hope that won't happen.
I think we're doing some amazing thingsin this county. We've really made
an impact on people's lives. Goahead and talk about it. So I
think one of the best parts ofthis job, and there are some very
hard parts, you know, usuallywhen we're responding something terrible has happened.
But one of the great things aboutthis is we are number one. We

(01:57):
help people moving forward after something terriblehas happened. Very often we're the first
people they're meeting with the police.Can you cite some an example like the
listeners so they understand. So forinstance, someone may lose somebody in a
terrible driving under the influence crash,So there's that awful knock at the door
being told that something's happened. Nowyou're then catapulted into sort of a whole

(02:22):
different world of somebody maybe has beenarrested, charged with what happened, or
we're doing an investigation to figure outwhat happened, and our working with our
attorneys and our advocates, we're helpingyou to understand that process, keeping you
updated on what's happening, and thenreally partnering with families to help them get
through the trial if we ultimately apprehendsomebody and get to a resolution. So

(02:47):
there's that piece. The other greatpiece is we are able to take things
that we learn from when something happensand turn that into prevention, because it's
always better if people never meet us, if the crime doesn't happened. You
know, we've this morning, Iwas doing work with senior citizens, talking
to them about how to avoid beingscammed. So we've seen from people who've

(03:08):
lost literally hundreds of thousands of dollars. How they were trapped in that scam,
yeah, and how they're trying toprevent them. Ray's mother got the
grandmother scam where the grandson called it. And she's going, it doesn't really
sound like you. Yeah, mynose is brunque was broken. Yeah,
And she went and she bought giftcards like this is. She has passed

(03:29):
away now a few years ago frompancreatic cancer, but she was sick of
the time and she still left thehouse on chemo and everything else, and
went and bought these gift cards becausethey were a grandmother. They're going to
take care of what they think somebodyneeds something like she and he said,
don't don't call my father, pleasewrite And so she didn't call. And
then by like the third time theytold her to go back, She's like,

(03:49):
I better call somebody. This thiscan't be right. And of course
she called Ray and then ways like, well would you do so yes,
I mean, so that's what you'redoing. You're doing preventing what we learned
from what happens. Then we takethat out into the community to say,
you know, we know people aredoing this. So for instance, people
now don't ask you for the giftcard because that takes too long. They
just ask you to rub the backof the gift card and give them the

(04:11):
number. So you know, thebad guys get ahead of us, and
we try to take that information andshare it with people so that they can
avoid this because we literally see hundredsof thousands of dollars and we are these
bad guys in other countries or theynot always sometimes they're here. Sometimes the
money goes out of the country.Sometimes you have people here who are channeling

(04:32):
the money to somebody else. Rememberthat crazy call about ever Source and you
called the guy out. I geta lot of crazy calls. Somebody said
he was ever Source and that wehadn't paid the bill. Yeah, yeah,
yeah, ever Saurce. That wasanother scam. I'm like, buddy,
you're calling the wrong person. Wepay our bills there, Okay,
no, no, no, we'regoing to shut your power. Well,
then shut my power off. I'llbe waiting. We'll be sitting here waiting
for you shut our power off.But see, that's exactly when you say

(04:56):
it's going to happen, like you'lloften people will often get a phone call
saying you Social Security checks are notcoming. Well, now they're in a
panic. What am I going todo? Or we Today when I was
doing the program, somebody said theyhad called and said, the state police
are going to arrest you because yourcredit card was used to buy guns.
They're coming. He was in apanic, like, the state police are
going to come and arrest me.What do I do? Well, the

(05:17):
way you can fix this is giveme your social Security number and send us
some money. But that's what peopleget frightening, especially if you know.
And one of the things we inanother piece of what we've been looking at
is we forget how lonely people aresometimes and they're in their house by themselves.
Maybe they don't have family that theyThat's why we should go back in

(05:38):
time and live in three deca familiesagain in some of them okay, and
grandmother, your great grandmother and thekids, and then everybody lived longer because
everyone's happy, right, I think, I don't know, maybe not,
maybe maybe not. But so that'swhat you're doing out there. You're also
doing prevention. You're doing we're reallydoing education. We're doing the That seems
like a lot of work for yourfor you and your team to be dealing

(06:01):
with I have a wonderful team withall the crime that goes on also too,
because that's really what you are.We have what's coming in the door
immediately, we're working on our olduncharged cases, and then we're trying to
do the prevention and education piece aswell. Lustress. How many city and
towns are in middles fifty four it'sa lot, Yeah, just about one

(06:23):
point eight million people. We arethe biggest county. I was gonna say
that the population is of the Mississippi. Okay, So how many counties do
we have? We have Norfolk.We've eleven in Middlesex. I mean in
Massachusetts. So what are they?Suffolk, Middlesex, Norfolk, Hampden,
Franklin, Worcester. Yeah, Ican't vote North Suffolk. That's all I

(06:45):
hear. You probably live in Norfolk, she does, Yeah, you do
brooklines at Norfolk. Norfolk. Yeah, but you're Suffolk. I'm Middlesex,
Middlesex. Yeah, because RUSSI saidshe's not part of our but where where
where we grew up new and ispart of Middlesex. Yeah I knew it
was Middlesex and Stuffolk is Boston,right, got it? What it's why
I ask, because most people don'tknow that. And then you run yours

(07:08):
the way you want to run,they run the way they want to run,
and then you all ever get togetherand run once a month, well,
once a month we meet to justkind of talk over issues that affect
all of us, that sort ofthing, got it? What's the biggest
issue right now? And we don'twant to talk about that because we've got
a lot of issues. I wouldsay the biggest issue for everyone everywhere is

(07:28):
mental health. I'd have to agreewith that. Yeah, I mean probably
eighty five percent of every case ofthe cases we see, there's some mental
health piece that's going on there.And now we have less psychiatrists and we
don't have enough to go around rightnow, right, So what do you
do? We are you going todo? People are just a little bit
off, right, Like I I'vesuffed from panic attacks since twenty six years

(07:49):
old, so I understand it.And people just go, Cindy Stumble's got
panic attacks, Yeah, she does, imagine that. Why, I don't
know. Ask my mother and mygrandmother because they gave them to me,
because they have them. But backthen at twenty six, they want to
blame it on PTSD. You know, no, no genetics, thank you
very much, nean orm. Butwell, genetics are a huge piece.

(08:09):
It's also you know, we havethis whole everything we've been through, it
had a ketch up on this right, being locked down COVID working under the
conditions. I was working full time. We were essential as you know in
Massachusetts as builders. But that wasn'ta good way to be working. Being
afraid. You're you're afraid, you'reI mean, I don't know anybody that
wasn't besides my kids not being afraidbecause it's literally spring my body with liphole.

(08:33):
You were, but your brother wasrunning around kissing everything in the world
like you could care less, likehe was in his twenties. Like I'm
not going to get this. IfI get it, I'll be strong enough.
And and then there's everybody else thatwe're going I'm i gonna end up
an event lator I'm gonna endup dead. I mean, it's that was a
tough time and now it's showing all. It's, you know, the ugliness
that comes out of that, especiallyfor young people, for kids. I

(08:54):
don't know, I don't even wantto be around big crowdsy would you,
No, I know. I thinkof that now in a way I never
did before. Like, what doI want to hold a Celtics game?
I love the Celtics, right,there's players let live in my homes.
But I love you guys. I'llsee you guys when you come home.
Right, Like, I don't reallyneed to go. I don't want to
be there. It's a different likeenergy Boston experience. When you're there,
you're good. And then I'll gethome. I'll come home and I'll get

(09:16):
sick. But hold that thought you'redown. In one second, I'm Sidy
stumbleing you listening Tough of Nails onWBZ News Radio ten thirty and We'll be
right back, sponsored by Flora Decor, National Lumber and Village Bank. Oh

(09:37):
and Welcome back City Stumpo Toughest Nailson WBZ News Radio ten thirty and I'm
in the studio with n Now yougo. It's good, Sammy, she's
the guest. She can go foryou go first. I'm sorry Mary and
Ryan the district attorney in Middlesex.I'm chopped liver today. Anyways, It's
OK. Yeah, I fought withher the Peter Brady Why don't my kids

(09:58):
ca learned financial literacy? Is thatlike so high to learn? It's easy
to be It's nice to be ourkids. God, no, it's nice
to be my brother. Okay,that's what my daughter would say too,
it's nice to be her. What'swrong with these people? These kids like
aliens? Like do you remember yougot up and old? Went to was
younger? Oh? Let me justask them a very simple question. Have

(10:20):
you been working your whole life?Yes? Have you been working as a
teenager yes? Did you always havea job yes? Did you have to
be held responsible, reliable and dependable? And when your father and your mother
gave you an eyebrow, did youknow to go stage left? That look?
That look we used to call itthe look. The look, it's
the one eyebrow looking. You went, okay, I pushed it. What's
wrong with the concrete today that kidsdon't wait to democraticly? You know,

(10:43):
my son's favorite word is pre mucheditor. I'm the oldest, therefore I
should have that. That's say,okay, and I got all the rules,
so I was the oldest. Yeah, yeah, I'm the oldest.
I got all the rules. Andby the time everyone's like, get with
everything. Sammy says when she hasand they're going to be working by eight
because that's a good idea. Ilike that idea. No, I just

(11:05):
don't understand, like, come on, we had grit, we had grind,
we had we had like we wantto go. I'm eighteen, I'm
out of here, Like mom anddad, I love you to death,
but it's time for me to moveall my life, like these kids want
to come home. She didn't reallywant me to go. I didn't want
you to go because you're specially you'rein erees. You're just a special.
Two minutes ago, she wanted topunch my face special. No. No,

(11:26):
I was going to beat her upearlier, but no, just told
me leave everything that I don't needyou. Yeah, she would have pitic
attack if I left. But atthe end of the day, I just
want her to understand that times havebeen good the last decade, right in
our business, in our world anda lot of businesses, and now we're
coming into some shaky waters on waterwaters, yeah, water, water,

(11:46):
water, water waters. I justwant her to know that it doesn't always
last forever. And when you getinto business when the market's great, and
she did. She came into agood market at twenty six, twenty six,
twenty seven. These kids haven't feltwhat a bad market feels like.
But see, we will take careof that for them, don't we.
We will make it all good.But we hope we can make it all

(12:09):
good. But here's the difference.I could vicariously live through older people when
they told me a story this generationcan't. Like if my mother and grandmother
told me a story of my grandfather, I listened right, and I could
put myself in their shoes. Forsome reason, maybe that was just a
talent that some people have, butI believe them. They're my parents,
my grandparents. They don't want thebest for me, not the worst for

(12:30):
us. Right. But to goback to what we're talking about priors again
to our personal life with our kidsis mental illness. And that's that's a
big root of the problems going onright now. Big root of it is
in some cases that is because peopledidn't get care for a long time,
you know, for two or threeyears, they really didn't get care.

(12:50):
There also is just a real shortageof mental health professionals that are available to
and there's also just and people forgetthis. And we've been doing a lot
of work around. This is justloneliness. You know, people spend so
much time kind of in their ownhead and on their own devices, they're
really unable to interact. And I'llgive you a couple of examples. We

(13:13):
started two programs. One we startedin schools, in middle schools, which
is called Nobody Eats Alone, becausekids are just left a lot of times
kids are just they're the kid who'sleft at the table by themselves. So
it's a program where kids really agreeto reach out if they see somebody alone.
And the starting I think they aredoing it. I mean the place

(13:35):
the schools we've started, kids seemto really respond to it. The schools
have been good about putting together groupsof kids, like maybe it's the class
officers, maybe it's the sports teams. And I think when you really explain
to kids how important it is,kids have been good. I'm always impressed
with kids. I just did agroup and a lot of the kids talked

(13:58):
about how they have had at somepoint been new in the school, so
they knew what it felt like tobe kind of the new person or to
be the person who didn't have afriend. We've also been in a lot
of communities we've been buying benches andagain I want to break in on that
one. Okay, yeah, withmy own personal opinion experience, My mommy

(14:18):
didn't hold my hand. They movedme from the North Shore thirteen to new
and I had a culture shark walkingthrough that school. I was like,
well, these kids are weird.This is all They bring me back to
where I came from, right,Like, I don't want to be here.
But no one held my hand andsaid, oh honey, it's gonna
be great. I just had togo do what I had to do,
Like I had to go and makenew friends, and no one held my

(14:39):
hand and no one cuddled me,and oh, Cindy, will let me
walk you through the school. Mymom dropped me off, went's a guns
councilor I checked in and from thatpoint she stayed with me out the door.
She went out the door. Iwent and had to figure it out,
find the way around school, allof it. But so probably two
things. There. Certainly are kids, and you probably were one of those
kids who are more resilient and whocan do that. Well, you had

(15:01):
to learn that, well you learnit, and some kids aren't is able
to do that sometimes and the otherpiece of it, I think is we
were all more engaged with each otherbecause think about you walk through places,
people's heads are glued to their phoneor their device, right, so they're
not reaching out to another kid.They're busy with whatever they in school.

(15:22):
Well, that's a whole difference.When did it become normal that you could
bring your phone to school? Right? Like? When? However, and
my grandmother said to her, mygrandmother has been passed away now for eight
years, said to my kids tenyears ago, when we were shooting Tapa's
nails, you see what you're holding. That's going to be the downfall of
this country. She was right.Do you remember Nana saying that to you

(15:45):
holding that Apple iPhone, like thisis going to be the device that's what's
going to take this country down.But again, she's been waiting for the
depression. She was waiting for thedepression to come back to her. Right,
so we can we wasn't my choiceto have a phone at school?
That was yours because you were soscared, well, because I wanted to
be able to read. But backback then, you didn't have the Internet
on your phone. You had aphone number. I called you, you
answered it. That's it, notlooking at TikTok and bomba bah. So

(16:08):
you're right, people's heads are inphones. I mean, we see an
incredible number of pedestrian accidents because peopleare busy with their phone. We have
driving situations where people are just they'rewatching a movie on their phone while they're
trying to drive. That's crazy.Yeah, but people are doing even even
and we're all addicted to this,right. We all use our ways or
our maps or whatever going how touse mind. I do the old fashioned

(16:30):
way. I put the window down. Hey, we as blah blah blah.
And people are just distracted by thatstuff all the time, so that
connectedness. Nobody talks to strangers.Now you get on a fresh subway or
something, and everybody is just lookingat their phone. It's a different way.
It's a very different. But itchanged really drastically, like only that

(16:52):
will change and really that's it.Yea within ten years, yea, within
ten years, I saw the changeonly to maybe. But you're right,
people lonely. That's why audio devicesare great. So if you are lonely,
there's place like xpace right, whichis on Twitter. But I don't
like go on my Twitter because allI see is bad things happening in schools,
kids beating each other all you wantsto send this in family group chat,

(17:15):
and our algorithm to be really negative. Yeah, my algorithm is very
bad. But then I watch oneand I want to watch another, And
then I watch another and I don'tunderstand why these kids are beating each other
up at school and hitting teachers,And come, I'm not like this little
like little lady with a cane,like I get life, right, but
we as parents, like you don'tput your hands on teachers, Like this

(17:36):
is all crazy. That is whatI'm watching. But again, that's where
my algorithm is pulling me to becausethe more you watch that, the more
you get right. So I don'tsee nice kids doing nice things in school
right now. And there's lots ofthat. There are really lots of that.
We put in a lot of lonelinessbenches, a lot of them located
between like schools and senior housing,so people sit and talk to people.

(17:56):
You know, that's really worked andit sounds like a real throwback idea,
but it's a place for some Ilike to just sit down. We put
a bench in in Lowell between asenior housing in a school. So if
you live at the senior housing andit's a nice day, you can go
sit out there. The kids goover and sit on the bench. It's
been a real back to what yousaid, sort of that community feeling of

(18:18):
people knowing people. But if youthink about this, and this is what
kids don't understand, and I sayit all the time, sit down with
an elderly person, talk to them, hear their life story. You learn
more from that one conversation than youmight learn in one year in school because
you're learning somebody else's journey, whatthey've been through. And if you're empathetic

(18:40):
and you're cure enough, that's whyolder people need to talk to kids all
But maybe I shouldn't be talking tomy kids. You talk to my kids.
I talk to your kids. Misterbuilder, I'll take your son.
I'll give you my son, becausethen there's a different respect factor. But
I think we've lost so much it'scrazy. And then you have so much
to worry about with all the crimethat goes on. Just we are we

(19:03):
up and crime we're down in crime. Crime is unfortunately, crime is down
in Middlesex County, really down.Fortunately it's down, yeah, so down,
meaning what the hard crime or therobberies, or like the shootings,
or because the hot crime seems tobe down but the stealing is up.
I will say the only thing thatis probably it's down, but it's not
down as much as we would like. Our younger people with guns. And

(19:27):
we're fortunate because in part because welive five minutes from great hospitals, so
we have lots of kids who survivethings that if we live somewhere else.
Oh, I thought we could togo to break right now? Is thinking
that my face? I'm Sinny Stumbley. He looks a tough of his nails.
On w BZ News Radio ten theoryBe right Back, sponsored by Pillow
Windows of Boston, Next Day Moldingand Kennedy Carpet and Welcome back to Tums

(20:02):
Nails on w BZ News Radio tenthirty. And I'm here with the lovely
Marion Ryan, the District Attorney MiddlesexCounty. There you go, and Samantha
the one that when we leave herewith Ncarote. No, I love in
Knockarot. I like that, notgrowth the price what we say to you
know, we've had an uptick inthose situations with people shooting at each other,

(20:22):
shooting at members of different groups,and those things are very scary,
even when no one gets hurt,because they're scary in a neighborhood. We
have a bill that became part ofthat. We filed a bill that became
part of the gun bill for peopleshooting at houses because we've had an incredible
number of cases where people are theage group of those kids, I'd say

(20:44):
old the people shooting at house eighteento twenty seven, twenty eight, you
know that ten years, so it'snot fourteen, fifteen year old. Now
we have that isn't true in someplaces, we haven't really seen that.
It's older kids, and you knowis shooting it houses, whether I'm doing
it to scare you or One ofthe things that's very frightening now is people

(21:06):
have guns that can shoot a lotmore. They're automatic, whether they've got
one of the little switches or theirghost guns. So we would use to
go to a crime scene and wemight see seven or eight casings on the
ground. It's not unusual now togo and there might be thirty five or
forty on the ground. So that'show many shots have been fired. And
when you do that, especially incity areas, you end up with houses

(21:30):
that get hit. So if youthink about what it's like for the people
in that neighborhood or people who livein those houses. We've had some really
terrifying things. Things have gone throughpeople's windows, gone in the walls of
their houses. That's what ends inneighborhood because if you have any resources at
all, you think I'm getting myfamily out of here. I'm certainly not
leaving my kids out to play whensomething like that might happen. So that's

(21:55):
a big focus is really we takea very hard line on gun cases.
You know, you just can't beout there doing this random shooting. Do
we have enough cops to go aroundthese areas? I would say short.
I would say the majority of citiesand towns in Massachusetts right now would tell
you that they are low on enrollment. We do have great police departments across

(22:19):
our county, people who really partnerwith us when we make an effort to
say, you know, we're goingto target this or that in certain communities,
and that is made an enormous difference. We've seen a lot of that
in our approach to drug overdoses andthings. We've done a lot of partnerships
and push those numbers down pretty dramatically. I feel like in high school there

(22:41):
was like a waiting list for peopleto want to be a Newton cop.
Yeah there was, there was,But here you are like my friend's parents,
Those kids wanted to be cops,and they're like, I'd have to
be in a waiting list. Idon't think i'd get in. And now
you know, we just turned overin Brookline that you don't have to live
in Brookline for a year, whichis great, but I mean we've pushed
that so hard. Can kids,young guys and girls afford to live in

(23:02):
Brookline for a year and pay rentso then they can apply to the police
force? Right? Maybe get inthen? Oh no, I mean we
need we need police officers. That'sthat's for sure. Look as far as
I'm concerned, I stick by thisand we you know, and I put
all these about Brookline police to cometo Brookline. You'll see about four hundred
and fifty signs near where I live. You know, we're backing the Brookline

(23:27):
police. We're proud, you know, the Brookline Police. What's the sign
actually say, spend five thousand dollarson these signs? We support the Brookline
Police. Yes, because I feellike a lot of these police offices have
just been so disrespected the last fouryears plus, right that the morale is
not there, and you've got tolift their morale too. Look, I'm
not going to say there's always abad doctor, a bad lawyer, a

(23:49):
bad build financial advisor, a badbuilder, a bad HVAC guy, bad
plumber, a bad cop. You'renot going to stop that. I mean,
but the majority are not bad asfar as I'm concerned, they're not.
And you know they're not theater.Look, when we were young and
a cop torch just we deserved it. That's the truth. We deserved it.
Okay, we're being punks, we'rebeing jerks out there. I feel

(24:11):
like as a kid though, everyonewas like I want to be a cop,
I want to be a fighter fighter. That's like all you ever heard.
I wonder if that's anything like thatanymore. No, they want to
be influences. What's wrong with you? They're going to be influences. That's
what they think. They come tolike the school fair or whatever and say
this is the day, the daythat you decide what you want to be.
You're going to bring an influencer toschool that day and be like,
this is what I want to do. Yeah. Do they just love that
way they bring parents into talk?I think so do they. So our

(24:33):
big, our big problem is,as you said, is guns on the
streets. And then people that canlegally have a gun, they go and
they get a license to have agun, and they're mentally and physically healthy
to have a gun. And thenyou got people that are going to be
illegal and do illegal things in criminalactivity. They're going to find guns.

(24:53):
They're going to find it no matterwhat. It's not hard to find a
gun. You also have a lotof people who may be got a license
to have a gun, and overtime, you know, a mental health
issue has arisen. I mean we'veseen lots of those. You know,
somebody who might have been perfectly finewhen they got their license, may we
need to renew us. Ten yearshas gone by or something, and things

(25:14):
have happened. And that's why,you know, some of the things that
we've passed to Massachusetts, like thered Flag law, really important because the
chief of police gives you a license. Now the chief of police is not
traveling around with you every day andmaybe seeing what's going on with you.
That's why it's really so important,for instance, for families, when you
see somebody who's struggling to make thatknown so that they don't necessarily have their

(25:38):
gun. Well, what about renewing, Like you have to renew your driver's
license, why don't you have torenew your gun license? Well, even
when you do, though, theauthorities, I see a snapshot of you.
You know, it's like when yougo to renew your driver's license,
they see you for the ten minutesyou're in the registry office. They don't
know that you drive in a verycrazy way when you're out on the road.
And that's why we've really been encouragingpeople, or especially when people get

(26:00):
older. You know, there arepeople who maybe they get older, they're
physical and mental health has declined.Maybe they shouldn't have their guns anymore.
You lost your glasses already. Ijust handed them to you. No,
I did. I gave up.When I first went through a metopause,
I heard it ray I'm a licensedcarrier. I said, lock this up.
Lock it up for two years.I want nothing to do with it,

(26:22):
because my menopause would make me feellike, oh it cockle crazy.
Right. So, but I thinkwhen you know that you're cucko crazy,
then you really not cuckoo crazy.But I just felt more comfortable here locked
this up because I could say I'ma little bit more emotional, and I
came out of it whatever, andthen I went back to Cindy. But
you have to know when to locksomething up and put it away and don't

(26:42):
carry it right and you got tono, you're But sometimes sick people don't
know. They don't know that.That's how you know the difference. I
once asked. I was interviewing adoctor and he said, I said,
do you think I'm crazy because Italked to myself? He goes, no,
are you answering yourself back? Igo no, he goes, then
you're normal. It is when you'restart answering yourself back and it comes to
another voice and you're crazy. Cindy, You're like, okay, good to

(27:03):
know that. So gun, whatabout what else do we have? Like
in our area a lot of ourcrime and break ins that's been our area.
Well, we just we just madearrests in that very large, long
term investigation where people who were Indianand Southeast Asian had been targeted. That
was a nine months investigation. Yeah, we arrested four people down in Kinnecticut

(27:29):
and Rhode Island for that, andthat was that was frightening because you know,
if you've ever had your house brokeninto, you know, it's terrible.
Somebody's been in your house, They'vebeen touching your things, they took
your things. This was compounded bythe fact that not only was that happening,
but people realized that, you know, not every house on the street
was getting broken into. It wasonly primarily families that were Indian or Southeast

(27:52):
Asian. So then you wonder,like, who's targeting me? How do
people figure out that it's me?And we're still looking at that part of
the investigation. But for instance,one of the things we found during the
arrest were a membershipless for temples,so clearly there was they did have information
about who belonged to this temple,could probably predict, you know, when

(28:15):
they wouldn't be home, when they'dbe at a service, that sort of
thing. So that was truly frighteningfor people. What's coming on us next,
I would say the mental health issuescontinuing. I think we're also going
to see a lot more of thecyber kinds of crimes. You know,
the AI, the deep fakes AIis going to be. Look, I

(28:37):
can tell AI in literally three secondsto build a city stample home and because
there's so many homes on the internet, it comes up with a like this,
So how hard it is going tobe? Put me my face or
on a naked body or vice versa, or me talk like I'm you.
You talk like I'm me and I'mnot you and you're not me, and
you're saying things that would be meand vice versa. I mean, I

(29:00):
don't know about I'll say again,there's always something good, but then we
find the bad in it. That'sgreat, but then you gotta find the
you know, you have to bringthe bad into it. So there's things
like we rely on surveillance, videoand photos and things. Those can all
be altered by AI. Will cometo Brookline. You're everybody's going to body.
We're protecting everybody there. It's crazy. But the other things that people

(29:23):
have to understand is that you've beendoing this job for eleven years. How
many other have held that position foras long as you've told it? Many
or not, there's a few.So there's a reason why you hold a
position for eleven years. But howmany women? How many women? That's
a good one. I like thatone, Sammy. No other woman has

(29:45):
been da this long. I likethat, Sammy. That's a fist pump.
I need a fifth pump right now. We're not going to throw you
out today. She just retrieved herself. Oh no, we're going to break.
I'm to be stupling. Listen toI Was Nails on WBZ News Radio
ten thirty. It will be rightback, sponsored by new Brook Realty Group,
Boston Wood Smaller Insurance, World AutoBody and Tosca Drive Auto Body And

(30:19):
welcome back to Tapa's Nails on WBZNews Radio ten thirty. And I'm Sidney
Stumpo and I'm sitting here with thelovely maryon Ryan, the District Attorney of
Middlesex County. And she's tough.And who else, Samantha Smithy. That
was a great question. I gottagive you. I'm not gonna let anything
go that you did earlier. Youjust saved her. Now I can ask
for things now. Earlier. Itwasn't earlier. I was getting disowned this

(30:41):
own. She's like, Mom,I make a strong living. Why are
you telling me that I should bespending that much money because you shouldn't because
you're safe for rain day? Didyour parents tell you safe for rainy day?
Is that just stuck in our brains? We ever hear of that?
No, but it's the truth,right, Yeah, I'm not crazy?
Right, Well, I can't speakto that, but you're not. It's
crazy, but I'm not crazy aboutthat, correct. I like that.

(31:02):
I'm crazy. I want to bethose crazy just but not crazy about that.
So talk to me about domestic violence. Talk to me. I saw
a lot of that going on.Who COVID a lot of it with our
police because they hang out of myjob nights and all of a sudden,
there's four and then they're gone,right, and I know where they're going.
I can get the calls coming throughwhat's going on domestic So we've created
a lot of partnerships that really area reflection of we all know the response

(31:27):
we had thirty years ago. Youknow, the police go out, we
kind of separate people. We hopeit gets better. That wasn't very effective.
What has been effective is helping peopleto really find a way out of
that life. So for instance,and having people that aren't police to be
supportive of them. So we createda program brought it to Middlesex about eleven

(31:48):
years ago called the Cut It OutProgram, where we train hairdressers, folks
who do personal services, people whodo your nails, who do a facial,
even restaurant workers what the signs areof domestic violence, because there are
lots of injuries that are inflicted indomestic violence cases that don't happen in any
other case. So, for instance, there is no other crime where people

(32:12):
pull out a clump of hair,but that happens very often in a domestic
violence case. And I pull outa clump of hair in the back of
your head, it hurts unbelievably,but you can comb your hair down and
you can go to work, andno one else sees that you go to
the hair salon that your hairdresser seesthose clumps. They see the little petiki,
the first blood vessels in your eye, they'll see the little marks on

(32:36):
your neck where somebody's grabbed you andchoked you. So we've trained those providers
for what the signs are, tolook for, and then how to approach.
I mean, you can't say gee, you know being abused at home.
No one's going to say g Iam, but how to kind of
ask questions that are not threatening orto And when we do it, we
go with people from the local sheltersand police officers. So it's not a

(32:59):
person and saying you know, I'veheard there's a shelter you could go to.
They're saying there's a shelter down onWashington Street. The woman's name is
Samantha, whatever it is, andthey can give people those kinds of connections.
So we've now trained several thousand peopleacross Middlesex County to what to look
for, how to reach out forhelp, give me the delivery. So

(33:21):
the hairdresser sees a hole in awoman's head, see the hare has been
pulled out, Does she engage ina conversation? Does she call somewhere to
somebody come out and engage. No, that we train people to be able
to ask that question about starting out, you know, depending on what your
relationship obviously is. But you know, I notice you've lost some hair back
here. Okay. You know,somebody might say, well, it's my

(33:43):
medication, it's whatever, And nowthey've come back twice and you've now seen
different big clumps, so you mightbe asking and maybe even just the question
of are you safe. And whenwe do that training, what people tell
us who've been doing that work fora long time, they've all seen it
and they didn't know what to dowith it. We give them something they
can be doing about it those questions. Maybe you just say, you know,

(34:06):
I know, you say you're fine, but let me just tell you.
There's this woman, you know,Alice, who works down the street.
Here's her number. You might wantto talk to her. What we
know and what the studies bear outis that people often have to hear that
five or six times before they're readyto do something. It's not very likely
that someone's going to suddenly say,you're right, I'm in an abusive relationship.

(34:27):
I short of seen that, butmaybe I worked. They think about
idiots, so I know they thinkabout it, and then they feel safer
because now you've given them an actualperson. They know you, and they
feel safer saying things you know.You know how it is with your hairdresser.
You know your hairdresser forever. Theyknow all kinds of stuff, and
what's really important is they're usually kindof separated from the rest of your life,

(34:51):
so you can say things there thataren't going to get back to your
work, that aren't going to getback to your family. People sort of
trust that, and over time,many of them end up coming forward and
saying, you know, somebody caredabout me. They asked if I was
okay. They're living often in avery frightening reality and for somebody to just
reach in and care about them isreally important. So that program's been really

(35:15):
successful. Let's make this clear tothe audience. Domestic violence happens in poor,
middle class, and rich and ultraultra rich. It lives in every
kind. Doesn't matter. Yeah,it doesn't matter. That's why I like
my show. We can talk aboutwhatever goes on between the foundation roof,
and Samuel'll tell you I'm a hugeon domestic in conversations with this, We've
done so many conversations. But look, my experience is that sometimes we can

(35:42):
get the families, the women andthe children out of the houses and put
them in they have their own apartment, especially the brook Few house in Roxbury
to bedroom. They get in thereand sometimes they want to leave in five,
six, ten, twelve nights rightbecause they only remember the good or
their promise this is not going tohappen again, and come home and things

(36:06):
are going to be different. Butleopards don't change their spots. They would
have to go through so much psychiatryto even change that. But again,
the woman is used to I've gotmy husband, I've got my roof over
my head, I'm not in somestrange area, I'm not in a shelter,
and they start to justify that thisis okay. I've seen it so

(36:29):
many times, and a lot oftimes obviously it's about children, you know,
you know, I don't want mychildren not to be with their father,
my children were. It's very hardfor somebody, and as you said,
it's in all kinds of communities.Sometimes in a in a more affluent
situation, it's very hard to leadthat because you don't want to be abused,

(36:49):
but you also don't want your kidsto have given up all of their
friends. They're not going to theirsame school in the house. Yes,
let's call it what it is.Right. We tolerate, but we tolerate
because sometimes, well, I'm livinga nice life. Sometimes I've heard that,
but Cindy, I live a nicelife. No, you're not living
a nice life. Well, andyou know until it life is that you're

(37:10):
when you go home. Everybody shouldgo home and feel safe. Right you're
in the streets, you're hanging,you're doing whatever, you're working. I'm
on construction. I'll go home.I want to feel safe. Everybody should
feel safe when they go home.Everybody should have a partner that makes them
feel safe. But I tell yousome of the stuff I'm watching next.
These women can throw down as goodas the men can. Right now,
I wouldn't want to bang on someof these women either. They can throw

(37:31):
down. They really can. Well, that's another and that's another piece of
it. You know, people thinkabout domestic islands in its very traditional way.
It is, you know, atraditional couple, usually a female who's
the victim. We're seeing a lotmore. For instance, people don't think
about this. We see couples thathave been married fifty or sixty years and

(37:52):
there's an abusive situation going on.Maybe they're both on well, maybe one
of them just reques. There's alot of care people who maybe things were
sort of okay when they worked andthey were away from each other a lot
of the time. Now they're hometogether, you know that retire Yeah,
that's not that's not what people expect, you know, we have. We

(38:14):
have victims in domestic violence cases whoare eighty years old, and that it
poses a whole lot of different challenges. That person is not as portable or
able to go to a shelter.They got it, They need their medication,
they need to be in their home. There's just sort of a lot
of other issues. We also havea large number of adult children who,

(38:35):
because of mental health issues or substanceissues, are back living with their parents.
That situation phrase very often. Somebodydoesn't want to take their medication,
they won't go get a job,the fight starts. You know, you've
got an eighty year old mother anda forty year old son. You know,
we see a lot of that,and people don't think about that as
domestic violence, but it is.Yeah, any of you children put in

(38:59):
the head and whoever thought you'd seeboys sixteen, seventeen fifty putting their hands
on their father's I mean, thisis I'm seeing this. Yeah, whether
it's Newton, brook Line, Reverenot sure. So I'm seeing it,
I'm hearing it. I'm seeing it. It's not normal. But what do
you do? You lock up thesekids, You lock up the kids that

(39:20):
are hitting their parents. You lockup the husband that said his wife you
lock up, Well, I thinkwe en have jails to go around right
now for everybody. But what aboutreopening mental hospitals Again, well, I
think we certainly right now. There'scertainly even if there were situations where people
thought that was good, and clearlywe people didn't have an opportunity to do
a lot of things they were ableto do safely in communities. But the

(39:44):
biggest problem right now is we don'thave enough mental health workers. We just
can't fill them. We're going toget them because they're not coming out of
school, they don't want this job. They're hard jobs, they're not the
best paying jobs, and you canspend a lot of money to get the
education to do that job. Sowe have to think of a different model
of how to provide that gear.And the insurance companies are terrible. Unless

(40:05):
you're very rich and you need helpfor your kids with drugs and any of
the unless you're going to write acheck for eighty eighty five thousand a month,
you're not getting a kid help youthere. Okay, Anyways, I'm
sending you stuff when you will sendTess Nails on WVZ News Radio ten thirty
and'll be right back please and welcomeback to Toughness Nails on WBZ News Radio

(40:37):
ten thirty. And I had alovely guest here tonight, which is Marion
Ryan, the District Attorney in MiddlesexCounty. Glad you take it. We've
had a great opportunity to talk aboutsome of the work that we're doing,
some of the programs that we have, particularly proud of our Unsolved Case Unit.
So please go to our website,Middlesex da'soffice dot com and look at

(40:59):
both the programs that are out therethat are available, some of the tips
about keeping people safe, and alsoplease look at the work we're doing around
uncharged and unsolved cases. And I'mSidney Stumpo, and I got to get
right behind her because I've been backingher if I don't know how many years
now. I respect Maria and Iappreciate it. I think she's great at
what she does. And I putmy money where my mouth is. Everybody,

(41:20):
have a great safe weekend, andwe'll see you next week. And
this is Sidney Stumpo Tough his Nailson ws Thank you Seemy, WBZ News
Radio ten thirty