State senators weigh in on police reform bill

Date: 7/22/2020

WESTERN MASS. – In a session that lasted into the early morning hours of July 14, the Massachusetts Senate passed a police reform bill, known as “Reform, Shift + Build,” that aims to create more accountability in policing and refocus law enforcement away from a surveillance and punishment model.

“During this time of heightened stress in our country, inequities in our system and each of our communities have revealed themselves,” said state Sen. Eric Lesser of the 1st Hampden and Hampshire District in a press release.

The legislation, he said, “aims to reduce the risk of police misconduct, shift practices toward de-escalation, and to fight racism. It will also ensure greater trust and cooperation between police and the communities they serve, making everyone safer, including police. Our Commonwealth needs a fair and just system, and that starts with reform, education, and oversight. I am grateful to my colleagues, Senator Sonia Chang-Diaz and Senator William Brownsberger, co-chairs of the Racial Justice Working Group, for their leadership on this legislation.”

In the practical sense, the legislation would curb the use of tear gas, ban choke holds and require officers to be licensed and receive racism training. It bans racial profiling and mandates racial data collection, reporting and analysis for all police stops.

The legislation would impose a moratorium on facial surveillance technology until the use of the controversial technology can be studied in greater depth. Facial recognition has come under fire for misidentification, especially with the darker skin tones of people of color.

The bill also addresses the school-to-prison pipeline by making the use of school resource officers optional for districts and prohibits police access to students’ personal information, with exceptions for criminal investigations or to stop imminent harm.

The creation of a Strong Communities and Justice Reinvestment Workforce Development Fund would channel funding to community investment and economic development grants. Rather than funneling offenders into prison, the law aims to decrease the number of offenders with evidence-based intervention models.

It would also create the Police Officer Standards and Accreditation Committee (POSAC), consisting of law enforcement, community members, and racial justice advocates. The committee would be charged with overseeing the standards of training and the certification and decertification of police officers. It would also be the body that receives and investigates complaints of misconduct.

Controversially, the bill would also limit the practice of qualified immunity, which exempts law enforcement from being sued for actions taken in the line of duty.

“Under the legislation, the concept of qualified immunity will remain, as long as a public official, including law enforcement, is acting in accordance with the law,” Lesser said. He and state Sen. James Welch of the Hampden District voted with the majority to pass the bill.

Welch said, “It was a tough debate, probably one of the toughest since I’ve been in the legislature. I supported law enforcement by supporting and voting for amendments to protect qualified immunity and due process, that ultimately failed.

“I voted to support the 95 percent of good measures in the bill with the understanding that the bill would move to the House. The House will have the benefit of time and I am hopeful they will have the votes to rectify the outstanding issues with qualified immunity and due process which will make it much better legislation for all,” he said.

Due to some of the same concerns Welch expressed, state Sen. John Velis of the 2nd Hampden and Hampshire District was one of just seven senators to oppose the legislation. He cited the possibility of unintended consequences.

“In my opinion, there has been a lack of expert study completed on the complex doctrine of qualified immunity. I was not, and am not, saying that qualified immunity is a perfect doctrine that shouldn’t be changed. I simply believe that we do not know all the practical and legal implications these changes will have, not just for police officers, but for municipal employees and court systems all over the state,” Velis told Reminder Publishing in a statement.

Velis also noted that the legislation may have an effect on collective bargaining with police unions and precedent for labor unions as a whole. Those concerns notwithstanding, Velis said that he intends to vote for a final bipartisan bill to accomplish police reform in the state.

The reform, Shift + Build Act will now go before the state House of Representatives.