HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 5187        FILED ON: 6/15/2022

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 4882

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

_________________

June 15, 2022

To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives,

Pursuant to Article LVI, as amended by Article XC, Section 3 of the Amendments to the Constitution, I am returning to you for amendment House Bill No. 4296, “An Act further regulating police detail work in the town of Hudson.”

This bill was adopted in response to a home rule petition by the Town of Hudson and would permit, “notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary,” any police officer with at least 20 years of continuous, full-time service in the Hudson police department, who left employment in good standing, and retired on superannuation to be appointed a special police officer and to work police details in Hudson until reaching the age of 70, provided those officers abide by the rules and regulations of the Hudson police department.

I support the Town of Hudson’s desire to be able to reappoint police officers retired on superannuation to serve as special police officers and work police details beyond the statutory mandatory retirement age of 65.  I am concerned, however, that by allowing the Town to appoint these individuals as special police officers “notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary,” the bill would exempt these special police officers from the statewide standards established in An Act Relative to Justice, Equity, and Accountability in Law Enforcement in the Commonwealth, which I signed into law on December 31, 2020, including that all law enforcement officers in the Commonwealth be certified by the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, and comply with the annual in-service training requirements of the Municipal Police Training Committee.

Accordingly, I recommend making two amendments to the bill.  First, I recommend amending the bill by inserting after the phrase “Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary,” in the first sentence of Section 1 of the bill the following phrase:-

but subject to sections 1 through 16 inclusive of chapter 6E of the General Laws,

Second, I recommend amending the bill by inserting after the phrase “any such officer so appointed,” in the first sentence of Section 1 of the bill the following phrase:-

shall comply with all requirements of chapter 6E of the General Laws, including (a) maintaining certification and good standing with the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission and (b) complying with all annual in-service and other training requirements mandated by the Municipal Police Training Committee, and further

Respectfully submitted,

Charles D. Baker,

Governor