By the end of this week, Gov. Charlie Baker will decide whether to sign, veto or amend a policing reform bill that could set a series of standards for how police departments operate across Massachusetts.
For those who oversee law enforcement agencies locally, the bill coming out of the Legislature, with no support from GOP lawmakers, could be the basis for positive changes, even as some aspects of the bill should be adjusted.
“Overall, I would say there is a lot to like about the police reform bill,” says Amherst Police Chief Scott Livingstone, whose department in 2001 was the second in Massachusetts to receive accreditation.
“Almost every chief I have spoken with wants some form of officer certification in the state and for it to be consistent throughout, and a process that deals with decertification where warranted for bad police officers.”
Setting standards leaves little doubt as to what the expectations for officers and agencies are, Livingstone said.
Being accredited for almost two decades, Livingstone said his department already has developed a professional culture with high standards, training and expectations, but he knows there are always areas to improve.
The bill, which the Massachusetts Coalition of Police, a union representing 4,000 members in 157 cities and towns, wants the governor to veto, includes a nine-member, majority civilian police standards and training commission that differs from the 14-member, half-civilian commission in Baker’s competing legislation. This commission would have the authority to certify and decertify officers, oversee misconduct investigations and standardize training. The bill also removes qualified immunity protections in cases where an officer’s actions result in decertification by this oversight board.
The makeup of the commission is a concern for Northampton Police Chief Jody Kasper, who would like to see more representation on it from the field of policing.
“As proposed, a minority of members would be from law enforcement,” Kasper said. “Typically, commissions and licensing boards are comprised of more individuals from the field than non-practitioners.”
Kasper said any use-of-force standards should comply with national standards, and some of the specific details of how this happens will need to be determined if the bill becomes law.
The limitations on obtaining “no-knock” warrants, when people over the age of 65 or minor children may be present, is another area of concern for Kasper. This could increase the safety risk for officers and occupants of residences where these types of search warrants are served, and Kasper hopes that judges who issue “no-knock” warrants continue to consider the same factors they always have, such as the potential for destruction of evidence, knowledge of firearms in the residence and history of violence with the individuals in the residence.
“There are many strengths and some weaknesses in the currently proposed police reform bill before Gov. Baker,” South Hadley Police Chief Jennifer Gundersen wrote in an email. “I fully support the certification standards for police officers, as Police Officer Certification is a program that the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association has for years been advocating for, which has until now fallen on deaf ears in the Legislature.”
“I also support a review of hiring and promotional protocols under civil service, with the goal of having the civil service system improve diversity within our hiring and promotional pools,” Gundersen said.
She wrote that she supports improving transparency on internal affairs investigations of sustained misconduct, but cautioned that police officers must be allowed due process under the law.
Creating standards for the use of force that follow national standards and banning chokeholds are sensible, Livingstone said, adding that chokeholds are a practice never taught or allowed in Amherst.
Other provisions of the bill include making it a crime for a police officer to knowingly submit a fraudulent timesheet, restricting the use of facial recognition technology and prohibiting law enforcement officers from having sex with people in custody.
How adoption of the bill would affect recruitment of new officers is an unknown.
Livingstone said as a non-civil service agency, Amherst can already seek out officers from wider ranges of areas of expertise, though because policing is not an easy job, that means good candidates have a lot of options and can, as he put it, “job shop.”
“It is becoming more difficult to recruit. With everything going on in the country right now, fewer people are looking at policing as a career,” Livingstone said.
Kasper observed that in Northampton, her department has faced calls to defund the police, and the City Council voted to cut 10% of the budget.
“Generally speaking, the current climate is pushing great police officers out of the field entirely or out of specific communities,” Kasper said. “This is occurring all over the country and is a pervasive problem throughout the ranks.”
Immediately after the reduction, Kasper said, 11 Northampton officers submitted their applications to other police departments and five have since left.
“They’re not leaving policing. They’re leaving the city of Northampton.,” Kasper said.
Still, as recruiting strategies to attract and retain officers change, Kasper said the department is open to new practices, including those in the policing reform bill, that improve delivery of public safety services.
“However, the best results come from collaboration and shared input,” Kasper said.
