HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 358        FILED ON: 1/12/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2201

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act allowing police to complete incident responses.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:
 

Section 98A of Chapter of the General Laws of Massachusetts is amended by striking it out and inserting in place thereof the following new section:

A police officer of a city or town who is empowered to make arrests within a city or town may, on fresh and continued pursuit, (a) exercise such authority in any other city or town for any offence committed in his presence within his jurisdiction for which he would have the right to arrest within his jurisdiction without a warrant; (b) stop a person for investigative purposes and take any appropriate legal action if he would have the right to do so in his own jurisdiction based on observations made while he and the person were both in his own jurisdiction; (c) stop a motor vehicle operator and take any appropriate legal action for motor vehicle violations committed in his own jurisdiction if he would have the right to do so in his own.  Said officer may return any person so arrested to the jurisdiction wherein said offence was committed. In every instance in which a police officer is active outside his jurisdiction under the authority of this section, he or his department shall promptly notify the department or departments having authority in the jurisdiction or jurisdictions in which he has been active, provided, however, that failure to make this notification will in no way affect the validity of any arrest, investigative stop or motor vehicle stop. Nothing contained in this section shall be construed as limiting the powers of a police officer to make arrests, investigative stops or motor vehicle stops.