The Massachusetts Police Association's Executive Director Jim Machado works tirelessly to ensure that the voice of the association is heard on Beacon Hill. Jim is well respected and has been instrumental in ensuring our primary goals are communicated to the State Delegation. On this page you will find the latest news from Beacon Hill. Jim is constantly updating the association with breaking news that is pertinent to not only active police officers but also retired.
Executive Director Machado participated in the POST Commission Meeting on May 3. The recording is available here: https://www.mass.gov/event/peace-officer-standards-and-training-commission-public-meeting-may-3-2022-2022-05-03t083000-0400-2022-05-03t103000-0400
Last week the POST commission approved an 8-question recertification questionnaire. At first glance it appears to be creating more questions than it answers. It seems to put aside rights of officers covered in collective bargaining C150E as well as rights against self-incrimination. What makes is more troubling is that law enforcement officers/union officials that sit […]
Although the State House remains in lockdown business is slowly progressing. This week the House released its budget for fiscal year 2022. We continue to go through it but noted that it increases spending over the Governors proposal and puts more money into local aid. We don’t expect any legislative/policy changes to be taken up during […]
Representative Pressley and Senator Markey have reintroduced a bill to eliminate qualified immunity. The bill was a re-file of legislation proposed last session in the wake of the death of George Floyd. They were joined by Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren, Representatives Jim McGovern, Seth Moulton and Katherine Clark and a number of others as co […]
In a fait accompli, Governor Baker put the pen to paper and made police reform official. As he did so the MPA joined other police groups in a brainstorming session to plan a course of action for the next legislative session. Among the topics were nominees to serve on the POST commission. We will continue […]
Senate Votes 31-9 to Pass Reform, House Finalizes on Tuesday After a long day of waiting, the Senate quickly voted down several amendments and passed what they called a compromise police teform package. Making minor concessions to assure the Governors signature, the Senate voted 31-9 and sent the bill to the House for action tomorrow. […]
Although the Senate will be holding a formal session Friday, we have been told that police reform will not be on the agenda. Friday will be to take up budget overrides addressed by the House on Wednesday as well as abortion legislation overrides.The Senate will continue to examine the Governors amendments to the reform bill […]
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After a weekend of productive dialogue, and positive feedback on Monday, today the train went off the rails. We were informed this morning that some in the Governors office had convinced him to put politics before public safety and abandon many of our amendments. We had worked on board makeup and due process protections. Although […]