54
Police Chiefs Sign Historic Accord
Inter Agency Mutual Aid Agreement Will Grant Law Enforcement
Authority to On-Duty Police Officers across Community Borders
Empowers Police to Effectively Respond to Public Safety
Emergencies
The Middlesex County Chiefs of
Police Association today announced the signing of the Massachusetts
Interagency Mutual Aid Agreement, authorized by the General laws of the
Commonwealth, which will empowers on-duty police officers in one jurisdiction
to respond to public safety emergencies in other participating jurisdictions in
certain circumstances.
The historic agreement, to date
signed by 51 of the 54 communities in Middlesex County, as well as
Wellesley, Lynnfield, and Saugus, establishes a strategic working
partnership among the police departments that will provide community benefits
in both day-to-day life and during a major incident.
The crux of the agreement is
twofold: First, Police Chiefs now have a formal method of requesting
immediate mutual aid assistance from neighboring communities during a
critical incident or crime in progress. Second, an on-duty police officer, who
may be traveling to court for the day or transporting a prisoner, can act
if they observe a drunk driver or other unlawful behavior while traveling through
another community.
“Police officers are expected to
always be police officers, and they should never have to put themselves or
others in danger by hastily rushing to stop a reckless driver or wanted felon
before the town line,” said Weston Police Chief Steven Shaw, President of the
Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association. “Crime doesn’t stop at the
border, and this agreement will help ensure that criminals can’t escape the law
by escaping one community.”
The agreement is the product of
more than a year of research and work by a special subcommittee of the
Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association, led by Arlington Police Chief
Frederick Ryan. The work stemmed from two Supreme Judicial Court Decisions:
Commonwealth v. LeBlanc (1990) and Commonwealth v. Bartlett (2013).
In the LeBLanc case, a drunk
driver’s case was thrown out because a Natick Police Officer followed the
driver, who had been speeding and ran a red light, over the border into
Framingham. The case left police with little recourse, under the law at the
time.
The Bartlett case, however, held
that police departments could establish Inter Agency Mutual Aid Agreements,
extending policing powers to neighboring communities. Middlesex is
the first county in Massachusetts to sign a county-wide Inter Agency Mutual Aid
Agreement.
The agreement also covers nearly
every community that the 2014 Boston Marathon will pass through. Major events
like the marathon attacks last year and the security efforts for the marathon
this year underscore the need for cooperation among different law enforcement
organizations.
“Major events in Massachusetts and
elsewhere have highlighted the need for police departments to work together
more effectively, and these events have shown that we are indeed more effective
when we work together,” said Bedford Police Chief Robert Bongiorno, Secretary
of the Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association.
“Working together, across invisible
boundaries, is a real step in the right direction,” said Belmont Police Chief
Richard McLaughlin, Treasurer of the Association. “I’m proud to sign this
agreement. It will make the community safer, and it will keep police officers
safe.”
The agreement allows municipal
police chiefs to retain command and control of incidents in their communities
during incidents. It also requires police officers to notify the commanding
officer of the community when they enter to conduct policing activities. The
officers will either be requested as mutual aid from the neighboring community,
or they may “Self Activate” when they observe or become aware of a violation of
the law across the border. The on-duty police officer may exercise their
police powers within any community covered under the agreement: to prevent harm
to the public, prevent property damage, stopping unlawful behavior,
investigating possible criminal activity, increasing the manpower/capabilities
of the department, detaining offenders, or enforcing traffic laws.
Of the three remaining departments
in Middlesex County, the chiefs of the Waltham and Winchester Police
Departments have submitted the agreement to their municipal government for
approval. Cambridge has not signed the agreement at this time.
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