SENATE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 2825

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninety-First General Court
(2019-2020)

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by striking out section 6 and inserting in place thereof the following section:-

SECTION 6.  Said chapter 6 of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 219 the following 5 sections:-

Section 220.  For purposes of sections 220 through 224, the following terms shall have the following meanings:

“Appointing authority” shall mean the person or agency with authority to appoint a law enforcement officer.

“Law enforcement officer” or “officer” shall mean any person performing police functions or duties and appointed to: a municipal police department; the state police, the office of law enforcement within the executive office of environmental affairs; the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority transit police, the University of Massachusetts system police; or any person performing such functions and duties and appointed to serve as a special state police officer pursuant to sections 56 through 68 of chapter 22C, or as a deputy sheriff pursuant to section 3 of chapter 37.

“Municipal police training committee” or “MPTC” shall mean the committee established in section 116.

“National Decertification Index” shall mean the national registry of certificate or license revocation actions related to officer misconduct as reported by participating state government agencies.

“Police officer standards and accreditation committee” or “committee” shall mean the committee established in section 221.

“Sustained internal affairs complaint” shall mean a finding by an appointing authority that an officer has violated the appointing authority’s rules, policy, procedure, or committed other misconduct or improper action, based upon findings of fact resulting from an investigation conducted pursuant to the appointing authority’s formal process of internal control and discipline, and from which finding there is no further right to appeal within the appointing authority.

Section 221.  There shall be a police officer standards and accreditation committee within the executive office of public safety and security.  There shall be 14 members of said committee as follows: the colonel of state police or their designee, the commissioner of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority transit police or their designee, the commissioner of police of the city of Boston or their designee, 1 chief of police selected by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association, 1 law enforcement officer selected by the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, 1 law enforcement officer below the rank of sergeant appointed by the Governor, 1 law enforcement officer of any rank appointed to a department in western Massachusetts appointed by the Governor, the attorney general or their designee, and 6 non-law enforcement individuals appointed by the Governor.  Not fewer than 7 of the members shall be from groups eligible under the definition of “minority business enterprise” appearing in section 58 of chapter 7.  All such appointments shall be for terms of 3 years with their successors appointed in a like manner.

The Governor shall appoint a chairperson of the committee.  The secretary of public safety and security shall appoint an executive director of the committee, with the approval of the Governor.  The position of executive director shall be classified in accordance with section 45 of chapter 30 and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section 46C of said chapter 30.

Section 222.  The police officer standards and accreditation committee shall have the power to certify, renew, revoke, or otherwise modify the certification of any law enforcement officer pursuant to sections 223 and 224.  The committee shall have the power to promulgate regulations pursuant to chapter 30A as necessary to implement sections 223 and 224.

Section 223.  (a)  No person shall be appointed as a law enforcement officer unless certified by the police officer standards and accreditation committee.

(b)  A person who completes an MPTC-certified academy or training program, or the training programs prescribed by chapter 22C, shall be certified by the police officer standards and accreditation committee.

(c) The committee shall maintain a database containing the following records for each law enforcement officer certified:

(1)  the dates of certification, renewal of certification, decertification, suspension of certification, or reprimand;

(2)  records of completion of training;

(3)  the date of any separation from employment with an appointing authority, and the nature of the separation, including but not limited to suspension, resignation, retirement, and termination.

(4)  the reason for any separation from employment, including but not limited to whether the separation was based on misconduct, or whether the separation occurred while the appointing authority was conducting an investigation of the certified individual for a violation of an appointing authority’s rules, policy, procedure, or other misconduct or improper action;

(5)  the date of any criminal conviction and the charge of conviction;

(6)  the date of any sustained internal affairs complaint, and the charge sustained.

All information in the database shall be made available to an appointing authority for the purpose of a background investigation for appointment as a law enforcement officer, and the committee shall set standards for such background investigation for appointments subsequent to the initial appointment.  The information in the database shall be a public record as defined in clause twenty-sixth of section 7 of chapter 4.

The MPTC shall report to the committee the information described in paragraph (2).  Each appointing authority shall report to the committee the information described in paragraphs (3) through (6).  The committee shall prescribe the manner, form, and frequency with which this information shall be provided by the MPTC and each appointing authority.

(d)  The police officer standards and accreditation committee shall determine the form and manner of issuance of a certification.  A certification shall expire three years after the date of issuance.

(e)  Each person who is certified as a law enforcement officer shall, prior to the date of expiration of the certification, renew the certification for the ensuing 3-year period by demonstrating satisfactory completion, over the preceding 3-year period, of 120 total hours of in-service training approved by the MPTC or prescribed pursuant to chapter 22C.  The police officer standards and accreditation committee shall permit law enforcement officers who have not completed the required in-service training to maintain their certification for good cause shown and upon demonstration by the officer of approval by the MPTC of both a plan for the completion of the in-service training hours and the reasonable amount of time in which to do so.

Section 224. (a)  The police officer standards and accreditation committee shall revoke a certification if:

(1)  The certification was issued by administrative error;

(2)  The certification was obtained through misrepresentation or fraud;

(3)  The certified officer falsified any document in order to obtain or renew any certification;

(4)  The certified officer has had a certification or other authorization revoked by another jurisdiction on grounds which would authorize revocation under the provisions of this section;

(5)  The certified officer is convicted of a felony;

(6)  The certified officer is found not guilty of a felony by reason of lack of criminal responsibility;

(7)  The certified officer is terminated based upon intentional conduct performed under the color of office to: obtain false confessions; make a false arrest; create or use falsified evidence, including false testimony or destroying evidence to create a false impression; engage in conduct that would constitute a hate crime as defined in section 32 of chapter 22C; or directly or indirectly receive a reward, gift, or gratuity on account of his or her official services;

(8)  The certified officer is convicted of a misdemeanor which would render that officer ineligible for a license to carry a firearm under section 131 of chapter 140;

(9)  The certified officer has a sustained internal affairs complaint based upon conduct consisting of:

(i)  Excessive use of force involving the use of a lateral vascular neck restraint or similar chokehold that restricts free movement of the neck and head;

(ii)  Failing to stop, or to attempt to stop, another law enforcement officer from applying excessive force in the presence of the certified officer;

(iii)  Excessive use of force resulting in serious bodily injury, as defined in section 13K of chapter 265;

(iv)  Conduct that would constitute a hate crime, as defined in section 32 of chapter 22C;

(v)  Intimidation of a witness, as defined in section 13B of chapter 268;

(vi)  Tampering with a record for use in an official proceeding, as defined in section 13E of chapter 268;

(vi)  Perjury, as defined in section 1 of chapter 268; or

(vii) Files a written police report containing a false statement, knowing the statement to be materially false.

(b)  The committee may revoke a certification if:

(1)  The certified officer has been convicted of any misdemeanor; or

(2)  The certified officer has repeated sustained internal affairs complaints, for the same or different offenses.

(c)  The committee may require an appointing authority to provide information reasonably necessary to determine whether to initiate revocation proceedings.

(d)  The committee shall conduct revocation proceedings and hearings, and promulgate regulations for such proceedings and hearings, pursuant to chapter 30A.  Any revocation hearing shall take place before a panel of the committee composed of 7 members as follows:

(i)  3 members of the committee who are police officers, selected by the chairperson.

(ii)  3 members of the committee who are not police officers, selected by the chairperson.

(iii)  1 member of the bargaining unit to which the officer who is the subject of the revocation hearing belongs, selected by that officer.  The chairperson shall select a member of the committee if the officer does not select a representative or does not belong to a bargaining unit.

Not fewer than 3 of the committee members serving on the panel shall be from groups eligible under the definition of “minority business enterprise” appearing in section 58 of chapter 7.

(e)  The committee shall revoke a certification upon a finding by a preponderance of the evidence, by majority vote of the hearing panel, of any grounds set forth in paragraphs (1) through (9) of subsection (a).  Any decision under this subsection shall be appealable pursuant to chapter 30A.

(f)  The committee may revoke or suspend a certification, or issue a reprimand, upon a finding by a preponderance of the evidence, by majority vote of a hearing panel, of any grounds set forth in paragraphs (1) or (2) of subsection (b) and that there is good cause to revoke or suspend a certification or to issue a reprimand.  The committee may set conditions including the completion of additional training if a certification is suspended or a reprimand is issued.  Any decision under this subsection shall be appealable pursuant to chapter 30A.

(g)  No adverse action taken against a certification by the committee pursuant to this section shall be appealable to the civil service commission established under chapter 31.  No employment action taken by an appointing authority that results from a revocation by the committee pursuant to subsection (a) shall be appealable to the civil service commission established under chapter 31.

(h)  The committee shall publish any revocation and findings.  The committee shall provide revocation information to the National Decertification Index.  No officer may apply for certification after that officer’s certification has been revoked pursuant to this section.