Massachusetts state senators agreed Monday to scale back restrictions they had sought to put on the use of facial recognition software by law enforcement and to limit the influence of a civilian led commission over police training.
An off-duty officer with the Stoneham (MA) Police Department took a vacation from his vacation and rescued the pilot of an aircraft after it crashed into Lake Winnipesaukee in New Hampshire.
Three officers with the Saugus Police Department were stabbed—and another injured—as they were attempting to investigate a report of a stolen rental vehicle that had not been returned.
The Springfield (MA) Police Department has received a generous donation from a non-profit organization of ballistic-resistant and stab-resistant protective vests for a dog in the agency's K-9 unit.
Legislators in the Massachusetts House of Representatives have begun a debate on how law enforcement officers in the state will operate and be trained, but the early outcome is that things like the use of tear gas in crowd control will remain in place.
The chiefs urged Gov. Charlie Baker and state legislators to work with police on the legislation instead of cutting them out of the conversation.
Officials in Massachusetts recently passed a "police reform bill" this week that would allow public schools the option of removing resource officers in districts across the state. The bill also imposes police oversight, bans choke-holds, limits the use of tear gas, licenses all law enforcement officers, and requires that they take training on the history of racism.
The Boston Police Department is mourning the death of K-9 Rocky, who died after a brief illness at the age of seven years old.
The bill would limit the use of deadly force to instances where de-escalation tactics have failed or are not feasible and "such force is necessary to prevent imminent harm to a person and the amount of force used is proportional to the threat of imminent harm."
An officer with the Salem (MA) Police Department was killed Thursday night in a vehicle collision with another car travelling in the opposite direction.