As a resident of Boston...
...I can assure you that the local police tend mightily towards cluelessness.
I refer to the Great LED Freakout of 2007 a few years ago, followed a short time later with the Boston Bomb Squad blowing up a traffic counter.
This was a small metal box, chained to a lamppost that had cables running across the roadway. The cables are essentially switches that are triggered by automobiles passing over them. The metal box holds the counter. The metal box also had a label identifying it as a Mass Dept of Transportation counter, along with a toll-free number to call if there were any questions about it.
Despite all that, the bomb squad still blew it up.
They do a good job if someone is waving a gun about in public, chasing down purse snatchers, dealing with drunk drivers, et al.
But for something like this, completely and utterly clueless. As amply demonstrated in the article.
Biting the hand that feeds IT
