Massachusetts Police Reform Bill Now Awaits Baker's Decision

MASSACHUSETTS — State lawmakers on Tuesday voted in favor of a landmark police reform bill, sending the legislation to the desk of Gov. Charlie Baker, who earlier in the day said he was happy to see the issue move forward but refused to comment on the bill's specifics.

The 129-page bill would establish an independent oversight and accountability commission that would have the power to standardize certification statewide and even decertify officers for any of a number of violations — a key issue at the core of the legislative compromise. Officers would need to be certified every three years.

The bill also bans chokeholds and excessive deadly force and requires officers to intervene if they see other officers using such force.

It would establish a committee to study qualified immunity, a major point of contention that the compromise tiptoes around.

Lawmakers approved the report, which came from a six-person conference committee that was working outside of the public's view in the months since summer talks stalled on Beacon Hill. The Senate voted, 28-12, in favor, while the House followed with a 92-67 approval.

The slimmer-than-usual margins means Baker could veto the legislation, though he could also sign it into law or return it to the Legislature with amendments.

"I'm glad the Legislature moved forward on this," he said at a COVID-19 press conference earlier Tuesday. "I'm glad that this was something that was part of what they considered to be important to get done before the end of the session. But I can't speak to the specifics of this until we have a chance to review it."

Baker in June offered his own reform bill that also included a system that would see officers certified and decertified.

But it's not known how the Republican governor feels about the specifics of the bill before him.

In addition to standardizing certification and allowing for violations that would strip officers of it, the bill would also permit the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Committee to investigate potential police misconduct.

The bill also bans no-knock warrants if an officer "has no reason to believe that minor children or adults over the age of 65 are in the home," prohibits public agencies — except for the Registry of Motor Vehicles — from using facial recognition software and limits the use of school resource officers.

The head of the state's largest police union called the sweeping reform bill the "final attack" on officers.

"The final compromise is a final attack on police officers by lawmakers on Beacon Hill," Scott Hovsepian, the president of the Massachusetts Coalition of Police, said in a letter to his more than 4,300 members. "It is 129 pages crowded with punitive measures, layers and layers of new bureaucracy and the abridgment of basic due process rights for police officers."

The State Police Association of Massachusetts said the bill "misses the mark" and "creates layers of unnecessary bureaucracy and costly commissions staffed by political appointees with no real world experience in policing and the dangers officers face every day."

Police reform jumped to the forefront of American consciousness following the death of George Floyd in police custody in May. The Massachusetts Senate and House passed their own versions of police reform bills in July, but talks appeared to stall after that.

Related:

• Baker Files Police Reform Bill To Establish Certification
• Sweeping Police Reform Approved In 4 AM Senate Vote
• House Democrats Pass Police Reform Bill
• MA Police Reform Bill Waylaid As ACLU Renews Call For Passage

Materials from the State House News Service were used in this report.