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.
Using parliamentary procedure, Senator Ryan Fattman moved to place the item on the table. This means the debate will begin again tomorrow at 11:00AM. Over the last several hours, we have been involved in detailed discussions on qualified immunity. Explainations of the anticipated action created more confusion than answers. Given this, we asked the issue […]
Executive Director Jim Machado is working tirelessly on the proposed legislation and we will up date membership when we have concrete info. We are working towards change that is fair for all. Our biggest concerns are preserving qualified immunity and an appeal process as well as the number of votes necessary from the board for […]
Today the Senate will be releasing their version of the Police Reform. The entire bill can be viewed by clicking the link provided. We expect this to move very quickly and anticipate a vote this week. Continue to call your Senators and let your voice be heard.
Just received word that the final touches are being put on the Senate version of police reform/ POST legislation. It could be released as soon as this weekend but no later than next week. We are led to believe that it will focus mostly on POST with several items such as chokeholds, data collection, militarization […]
Throughout the weekend, we have been in numerous communications with members of the legislature as well as the administration including those in the House and Senate responsible for creating legislation for their branches. As bad as some of the already released legislation cripples law enforcement, we are aware of a concerted effort by some to […]
Earlier today, Governor Baker was joined by members of the black and Latino caucus and released his bill on police licensing/certification. We have put together a summary and highlights of the legislation. Establish a police officer standards and accreditation committee (POSAC) made up of 7 police officers and 7 civilians. They would serve for three […]
We were informed late last night that Governor Baker will release his version of police reforms on Wednesday. We expect to receive a draft this morning and will have more comments.
Yesterday, the SCOTUS chose not to review cases regarding qualified immunity. This principle protects government employees acting in an official capacity from lawsuit unless their actions violate ” clearly established” federal law or constitutional rights. It takes four justices to take up a case. In the past, Justice Sotomayor, the most liberal on the court and […]
We are tracking this Bill closely as it is in the early stages of development. As of yesterday, it did not have a filing number yet. We look forward to an open dialogue and having a voice in any future reform discussions. Stay tuned as we will keep you posted to any updates. The bill […]
Yesterday Nancy Pelosi and the Democratic leadership released the Justice in Policing Act which calls for reforms in policing that include a ban on chokeholds, an end no knock warrants in drug cases and makes lynching a federal hate crime. It goes on to require local departments submit their uses of force to the feds […]