HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 895        FILED ON: 1/13/2009

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2236

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the Year Two Thousand Nine

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An Act relative to establishing a commission to study the reorganization of municipal public safety agencies..

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

SECTION 1.  Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, there shall be a special commission to study the feasibility and practicality of authorizing municipalities of the commonwealth to merge their police and fire departments into single cohesive public safety agencies, under a unified command structure, while maintaining proper emergency services which will enable cities and towns to continue operations smoothly and more efficiently after police and fire unification. 

The commission shall consist of  13 members; the lieutenant governor of the commonwealth, who shall chair the commission; 4 members of the senate, 3 of whom shall be appointed by the senate president, 1 of which shall be a member of the committee on public safety and 1 of which shall be a member of the committee on municipalities & regional government, and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the senate minority leader; 4 members of the house of representatives, 3 of whom shall be appointed by the speaker of the house, 1 of which shall be a member of the committee on public safety and 1 of which shall be a member of the committee on municipalities & regional government, and 1 of whom shall be appointed by the house minority leader; the secretary of the executive office of public safety or his designee; and 1 member appointed by each of the following organizations: the Massachusetts municipal association, the Massachusetts association of police chiefs, and the Massachusetts firefighter’s association. 

The scope of the commission’s inquiry shall include, but not be limited to:

Assessing existing fire and police recruit training programs and identifying ways in which new recruits could be cross-trained to take on both the roles of police officers and firefighters

Identifying cost efficiencies and savings of merging police and fire departments under single unified command structures, including salary, pension, and healthcare cost savings

Identifying logistical problems associated with merging police and fire departments, and possible solutions to those problems

Identifying current legal and political impediments to the merging of police and fire departments, and possible solutions to those impediments

Analyzing any impact on emergency services posed by merging police and fire departments, and possible solutions to overcome those impacts

Identifying any other incentives and disadvantages to merging police and fire departments

Recommending legislation that will promote and provide municipalities the authority to effectively merge police and fire departments, if they so choose, while maintaining effective emergency services under a unified department and command

Creating a report that contains the result of its investigation, including any recommendations that could be used as a framework for legislation necessary to carry out each recommendation accompanied with an explanation of the legislative intent of each draft proposal.

The commission shall submit its report and findings, along with any drafts of legislation, to the governor, the joint committee on municipalities and regional government, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, the office of the senate president, the office of the senate minority leader, the office of the speaker of the house of representatives, the office of the house minority leader, and the clerks of the house of representatives and the senate not later than January 31, 2010.