One of the greatest challenges for Captain Claiborne in the Dorchester/Mattapan area is to educate public opinion. With public support, nothing can fail; without it, nothing can succeed. A grave concern in District B-3 is violence against and among women.

From January 1 to May 31, there have been 1,133 reports of domestic violence on the district. When love and abuse become so intertwined that the two cannot be distinguished, it is time to educate and re-educate on the profound differences between love and abuse; in fact the two are like water and oil.

If women can fight to win the right to vote, to gain equal opportunity in the workplace and in education and for equal pay, then it is time for women to fight to live in their homes without being abused by men who with their tongues are saying, “I love you,” and with their hands and feet are delivering such powerful blows that you wonder, “What’s love got to do with it.”

May 12, 8:00 p.m.

When this beautiful young woman married her husband, he promised to love and cherish her until death do them part. It never occurred to her that he would try to speed up the process of her death after his love for her evaporated.

The young mother walked into B-3 holding her four-month old son. The active little baby boy hugged her tightly around the neck while kissing her on the right cheek and then on the left cheek. The mother slowly walked to a chair to sit, caressing her son. This loving picture quickly turned into horror when the officer noticed that both of her legs where severely burned from the fibula to the femur.

When the officer asked what happened, she replied, “My husband took me and our son on a trip. When we arrived to our destination, he gave away all of our belongings and tried to sell us to unknown individuals.” The individuals refused to buy her and the child. Her husband then took her and their son to an area, poured gasoline on her legs and lit her legs on fire while their son was in her arms.”

The young mother said she managed to protect her son from being burned by enveloping him in her arms while rolling on the ground trying to extinguish the fire that engulfed her. Her husband was standing on the sideline saying to her while she was burning, “I will kill you before you reach the U.S.”

May 21, 7:40 p.m.

A 29-year-old female was found in a driveway on Arbutus Street with one gunshot wound to the head and one gunshot wound to the torso. At the time of her demise she was attending a family cookout. She was the mother of two children, ages 9 and 6.

May 26, 6:39 p.m.

While on foot patrol, an officer heard five shots coming from the Franklin Field area. Upon further investigation, the officer observed that a house on Floyd Street had sustained five bullet holes in the rear. Five shell casings were located in the rear of another location on Floyd Street. Inside the Floyd Street apartment was a 69-year-old female and two teenage girls. On June 5, at approximately 3:56 a.m., again officers responded to the same address on Floyd Street for shots fired. The same property sustained damage to the front window.

May 26, 8:54 p.m.

As a female, sometimes it is easy to point out how harsh men are toward women, but women tend to be harsh to other women as well. Officers responded to Gaylord Street for a fight between two female roommates. One of the roommates had been stabbed in the abdomen. The victim’s mother became enraged when she realized that her daughter had been stabbed and began to beat the suspect on the head with a wooden coat hanger.

The suspect stated to officers that she had received several messages on Facebook stating that the victim’s friends, fifteen of them in fact, were coming over to fight her. When the fifteen females showed up at the apartment, she armed herself with a knife and called a friend to come get her. The suspect further stated to officers that she stabbed the victim after the victim punched her in the mouth as she was trying to leave the premises. The suspect was arrested and charged with assault and battery by means of a dangerous weapon. The victim was transported to Boston Medical Center for treatment.

June 6, 1:27 a.m.

While monitoring the Franklin Field area, officers observed two known suspects walking on Floyd Street acting suspiciously. One of the suspects pulled the drawstrings on his hoody to conceal his face and his right hand clenched in his right pocket appearing to be holding a firearm. As this suspect walked past a motor vehicle with officers inside, he pulled out a firearm from his pocket and fired seven shots at a female on a porch located on Floyd Street. The female, later identified as a deputy sheriff, sustained a gunshot would to the right shoulder and a gunshot wound to the left chest.

The officers ordered the suspect to drop the gun. When the suspect recognized the men to be police officers, he dropped the gun and laid on his back in the street. Recovered at the scene were a .45 caliber, ACP Hi-Point semi-auto handgun and seven spent shell casings. The two males were arrested.

On June 13, officers again responded to Floyd Street and recovered ballistics evidence lodged in the rear of a chair on the front porch. At approximately 4:08 p.m., officers again responded to a radio call for threats at the same address on Floyd Street. Upon arrival, officers spoke with the victim who stated that she was sitting on her front porch when she saw four males, two of whom were on bikes, riding up and down the street. Victim stated that the unknown males were threatening her stating, “It’s not over yet.”

June 8, 6:15 a.m.

The dead body of a 29-year old female was discovered outside of her home located on Callender Street. The cause of death has not been determined.