This Just In: Politicians Lie

Also, sun to set sometime this evening...
Seriously though, this is disturbing.

Healey said during the debate that ``we actually have 2,000 more police on the streets today than we did four years ago."

Her campaign said later that she based that number on research by her staff showing that more than 2,100 new officers have been put on the street since January 2003. Campaign manager Tim O'Brien , however, acknowledged that the figure only counts graduates from police academies and does not count retirements and resignations.

That's technically not a lie, but it sure is shading the truth.
The good news? Deval Patrick's campaign is even less acquainted with the truth than Healey's

Patrick's campaign, for its part, said it arrived at the figure of 700 fewer officers by averaging a federal 2004 report showing 400 fewer officers and a May 2004 interim legislative report that said the commonwealth had lost 945 officers through layoffs and attrition since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Yeah, nothing like using parts of a two year old study to communicate with the voters. They also said this

But while Patrick said his numbers came from a new Department of Justice report out yesterday, they were actually included in a report released by the Massachusetts Health Council, a public health advocacy group.

Why would he use the "public advocacy" group's numbers (big shock, they're pretty far to the left)? Because the DOJ numbers showed that, while violence in Massachusetts is higher than any other state in the northeast, including New Jersey & New York (an accomplishment if ever there was one), violent crime has actually gone down 6% since Romney & Healey took office.
In other words, elect Kerry Healey.