Murders and non-fatal shootings are on the rise in Boston. Understaffed and overworked cops on the way to and from work, and during their 12 to 16 hour shifts are routinely running into shootings or encountering armed kids and wrestling weapons from them. Good kids have to look over their shoulders and prosecutions suffer from a culture of fear of testifying.

But I'm glad the Herald is doing their part for the health of the city by dusting off that old police detail story, taking potshots at the Police Commissioner and ridiculing the Mayor's criticism of the stop snitching culture. Very helpful indeed. Not.

If I were the cynical type, I might think there was something else going on here. Isn't crime good for tabloid newsstand sales? Reducing violent crime in the city might be the last thing the owners of the Herald want to see. Despite this editorial, in its crime coverage, the paper is quacking like a duck that seems to want things to get worse before they get better.

Ridiculous? Maybe, but it's a conspiracy theory at least as worthy of airing as the implied accusation described in a headline but sourced to the anonymous mother of a teenage shooting suspect with a "disturbing criminal history."