Massachusetts Final Police Reform Bill Creates Certification System, Limits No-Knocking Warrants
Months after the self-imposed deadline, leaders in Massachusetts House and the Senate reached agreement on a police reform bill that creates a certification program for the police. police and restricted no-strike warrants.
The Senate Clerk’s office received a report on Monday evening from members of the conference committee, a group of lawmakers appointed to reconcile differences between House and Senate versions of the legislation.
The legislation was drafted at the height of the Black Lives Matter protests in response to the deaths of black people at the hands of police officers, including Breonna Taylor in Louisville and George Floyd in Minneapolis.
The bill does not limit qualified immunity for certified officers. Instead, the proposal would limit those protections for officers who are decertified by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Training and Standards Commission. He created a commission to study the doctrine and the impact of the limitation of these protections for the police.
The bill includes a provision proposed by Representative Liz Miranda, a member of the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus, to ban no-hitting warrants in cases where a child or person over 65 is present.
“The compromise reached, which aims to improve the transparency and accountability of police services in Massachusetts, represents one of the most comprehensive approaches to police reform and racial justice in the United States since the tragic murder of George Floyd, “Speaker of the House Robert DeLeo and Speaker of the Senate Karen Spilka, both Democrats, said in a statement Monday evening.
The final bill must be voted on by the House and Senate before it goes to the governor’s office.
Governor Charlie Baker introduced a bill to create a police check program it was supported by the black and latino legislative caucus after months of discussions. Civil rights activists, however, argued that the the bill was too narrow and pay officers more to meet the standards that should already be demanded.
The Senate tabled a much larger bill a few weeks later. The House introduced a law that was a bigger bill than the governor’s bill, but less ambitious than the Senate’s proposal. After both houses passed a law, lawmakers had to negotiate whether to send a bill to the governor’s office that limits qualified immunity, prohibits no-knock warrants when children are at home and other provisions which the police unions strongly opposed.
Ultimately, the lawmakers of the conference committee sent the issue of qualified immunity to investigate and limit these protections for decertified agents. Other elements of the House and Senate bills have survived: restrictions on no-knock warrants, a ban on facial recognition by most agencies and government officials, and the authorization of a POST commission to investigate officers accused of misconduct even though they have not been charged with a criminality.
The final bill prohibits officials and government agencies from using, owning, or working with third parties on facial recognition technology. The bill provides an exception for the Motor Vehicle Registry, which already uses the technology. The proposal also requires the agency to release data on how often law enforcement officers request access to the technology.
DeLeo, Spilka and Baker, a Republican, all pledged to bring forward a police reform bill by the end of the session on July 31. But the session was extended as Democratic legislative leaders cited COVID-19 and several major bills that were tabled in the conference committee.
One of the main obstacles to bringing the police reform bill to the governor’s office over the summer was the Senate’s efforts to limit qualified immunity protections for all public servants. The House also included a qualified immunity provision, but it would only deprive a police officer of these protections if they were decertified.
“Our approach strikes a balance that will provide better protection of the rights of all residents through a robust police officer certification process through a new independent body, and the establishment of clear standards for the training and use of police. force, while providing a wider range of law enforcement tools to keep the public safe, ”DeLeo and Spilka said in the release. “While there is still a lot of work to be done, we are proud of the foundation laid by this bill as we continue to move forward towards racial justice and equity. “
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