Defunct Massachusetts Police Agencies

The following is an overview of defunct law enforcement agencies of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.

Three of these agencies (Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of Law Enforcement, Massachusetts Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan District Commission Police) were merged in 1992 by ''Chapter 412'' of the ''Massachusetts Acts of 1991'' along with the former Department of Public Safety - Division of State Police to form the current Department of State Police. All officers of the three departments became Massachusetts State Troopers at the time of the merger.

The remaining agencies have been either outright abolished/eliminated, merged with other agencies, had their duties absorbed by other agencies, or were ''de facto'' eliminated by refusal to renew the police powers of their personnel.

Blandford Police Department

In July 2018, the entire (four-person) police department of the town of Blandford, Massachusetts resigned simultaneously, citing "unsafe working conditions." While the town government initiated proceedings as to how the situation would be handled, the neighboring town of Chester, Massachusetts offered to assist by patrolling Blandford with Chester Police Department personnel. The Chester Police Department chief was sworn-in as the interim chief of the Blandford Police Department within months, and hired as the permanent police chief by mid-2019. The two towns began exploring joining the two forces together, officially, and by December 2019 this was accomplished. With Chester as the "lead town," the Blandford Police Department was dissolved, its assets merged into the newly re-named "Chester-Blandford Police Department." The agency would be the second dual-town police department in Massachusetts after the 2014 creation of the Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department.

Boston Municipal Police

The Boston Municipal Police (BMP) were founded in 1979 and were armed and sworn police officers. The BMP served as the security police agency of the City of Boston, originally under the Public Facilities Department, but later the Property Management Department. BMP personnel were responsible for law enforcement and security services on most city-owned properties and buildings (to include Boston Police Department properties and buildings). The BMP was dissolved on January 1, 2007 and replaced by the Boston Municipal Protective Services (BMPS), an unarmed security force.

As of 1 January 2007, BMPS officers initially held special police powers via the Boston Police Department's "Rule 400/400A" licensing scheme. All BMPS personnel lost such police powers due to the passage of the 2021 Massachusetts Police Reform Law and establishment of the POST Commission. BMPS personnel remain under the Property Management Department and are now an unarmed, non-sworn safety, security, and property management service.

Boston School Police

The Boston School Police (BSP) previously served K-12 schools as the security police agency of the Boston Public Schools. The Boston Public Schools were served by a non-sworn "safety and security" force until the BSP’s official establishment in 1982. Like the Boston Municipal Protective Services post-merger, BSP personnel held police powers under the Boston Police Department’s "Rule 400 and 400A" special police officer licensing scheme. BSP officers were always unarmed. BSP officers lost their police powers effective July 1, 2021, when the Boston Police Department declined to renew their special police licenses under the auspices of the Massachusetts Police Reform Act and newly-created POST Commission. The Boston Public Schools, faced with the prospect of a non-sworn, unarmed "police" agency, transitioned the BSP into the "Office of Safety Services," (OSS) effective July 1, 2021; The OSS manages safety and security issues across the Public Schools system via unarmed and non-sworn safety and security officers, crossing guards, etc. The OSS is supplemented, where and when needed, by armed and sworn Boston Police school resource officers. As of 2023, the Boston Public Schools had advised the mayor of Boston that re-creating their own, stand-alone law enforcement agency should be considered. As of , this recommendation has not been acted-upon.

Department of Public Safety - Division of State Police

This is the former statewide police department for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which was founded in 1865; the M.D.C. Police, Registry of Motor Vehicles Police, and Capitol Police merged with this department to form the new Department of State Police in 1992. Prior to being known as the Massachusetts State Police, from 1865 to 1879 the agency was known as the "Massachusetts State Constabulary," or simply the "Massachusetts Constabulary." From 1879 to 1919 it was known as the "Special District Police of Massachusetts." From 1919 the agency assumed its current name, the "Massachusetts State Police."

Massachusetts Capitol Police

The Massachusetts Capitol Police (MCP) functioned as the security police force of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, providing security and law enforcement services to the Massachusetts state capitol complex in Boston, Massachusetts as well as the grounds around it, in addition to any other state properties the Commonwealth assigned to the MCP. MCP officers were armed and fully-sworn police officers throughout the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. The MCP provided vehicle cruiser, motorcycle and traffic patrols, criminal investigations and executive protection services. In 1992, the MCP was amalgamated into the Massachusetts State Police, with personnel either leaving or becoming Massachusetts Sate Troopers. As of 2019, two former MCP officers remained with the Massachusetts State Police, though both retired within the following years.

Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Police

The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Police Department was formed during the creation of the authority in 1982. The department patrolled the Convention Center Authority owned property including the John B. Hynes Convention Center. The department was disbanded with the opening of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in 2004 and contracted security guards were hired to patrol properties. The contracted guards were replaced by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Public Safety Department in 2010.

Metropolitan District Commission Police

The Metropolitan District Commission's (MDC’s) police department; the MDC Police was formed in 1893. The MDC Police had the primary jurisdiction of law enforcement on all MDC controlled properties, roadways and all Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) facilities, Reservoirs and Watersheds. Additionally, the MDC Police had patrol jurisdiction on US Route 1 in Chelsea and Revere, Interstate 93 in Boston and Milton (Central Artery and the Southeast Expressway). MDC Police also had full jurisdiction in cities and towns wherever there were MDC facilities or property.

MDC Police were the third largest police agency in New England with over six hundred officers working primarily throughout Metropolitan Boston. They were commonly referred to as The Mets. In addition to patrol functions The Mets provided tactical assistance to area cities and towns in the form of regional SWAT teams, the Marine Unit and tactical operations units. Examples include Tactical Officers assigned to the city of Boston during court ordered school desegregation, assignment as the primary security agency for the Department of State with the responsibility of providing security and escorts for visiting dignitaries and annual assignments to assist cities and towns during the Boston Marathon.

MDC Police also maintained a full-service detective unit to investigate crimes on its primary jurisdiction as well as providing Detectives and undercover agents to area cities and towns, area Drug Task Forces, the (state) Governor's Auto Theft Strike Force, the DEA Boston Drug Task Force, the Secret Service and the FBI.

The last chief of the MDC Police was former Boston Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, who later was NYPD Commissioner and Los Angeles Police Department chief.

The following current Massachusetts State Police Barracks were MDC Police districts:

Additionally, the following State Police Units are based out of former MDC Police facilities:

The following former MDC police stations were closed within the first few years of the consolidation/merger:

Massachusetts Parking Authority Police

The Massachusetts Parking Authority Police patrolled the Boston Common Garage, Charles Street and parts of the Boston Common, from 1975 until the Parking Authority was disbanded and the garage turned over to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority in 1982. The agency was absorbed by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Police (itself created in 1982 and disbanded in 2004).

Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of Law Enforcement

The Registry Police had the primary function of enforcing motor vehicle safety laws statewide, drivers license testing, crash investigation, enforcing laws & regulations on Registry property, and commercial vehicle inspection, although that had full police powers statewide.

Inspectors of the Registry Police were unique in the fact that as Registry employees they were able to suspend an operator's license on the roadside.

The Registry Police Statewide HQ was located at 100 Nashua St., Boston.

Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services Police

The Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services (DDS) Police patrolled properties operated by DDS such as the Wrentham Developmental Center in Wrentham, Massachusetts. Select personnel were sworn as "special state police officers." DDS Police personnel carried most standard law enforcement equipment but did not carry firearms. Rather than comply with the new standards set by the 2020 "Massachusetts Police Reform Law," the DDS and its parent agency, the Executive Office of Health and Humans Services, elected to disband the DDS Police, replacing them with non-sworn, un-armed security personnel, despite the Massachusetts POST Commission exempting the DDS Police from the new law.

Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Police

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health (DMH) Police patrolled properties operated by DMH such as the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, Bridgewater State Hospital, and the Dr. Solomon Carter Mental Health Center. Select personnel were sworn as "special state police officers." DMH Police personnel carried most standard law enforcement equipment but did not carry firearms. Rather than comply with the new standards set by the 2020 "Massachusetts Police Reform Law," the DMH and its parent agency, the Executive Office of Health and Humans Services, elected to disband the DMH Police, replacing them with non-sworn, un-armed security personnel, despite the Massachusetts POST Commission exempting the DMH Police from the new law.

Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation Police

The Massachusetts Department of Mental Retardation (DMR) Police patrolled properties operated by DMR such as the Walter E. Fernald Developmental Center in Waltham, Massachusetts. Select personnel were sworn as "special state police officers." DMR Police personnel carried most standard law enforcement equipment but did not carry firearms. The DMR was re-named to the Massachusetts Department of Developmental Services around 2007, with the DMR Police becoming the DDS Police.

New Braintree Police Department

The formerly-independent police department of New Braintree, Massachusetts was absorbed by the neighboring police department of Hardwick, Massachusetts, effective July 1, 2014. The Hardwick Police Department was re-designated the Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department. The final New Braintree Police Department chief retired immediately prior to the merger. As of , the Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department and the Chester-Blandford Police Department are the only (municipal) law enforcement agencies to serve two towns in Massachusetts. The Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department was the first dual-town agency in Massachusetts.

Worcester Airport Police

The Worcester Airport Police patrolled the grounds Worcester Regional Airport. The department was unique in that in provided both law enforcement and firefighting services to the airport. Unique among Massachusetts law enforcement, officers of the Worcester Airport Police were required to be certified as Massachusetts "special state police officers" as well as firefighters. The Worcester Airport Police were disbanded some time after the 1 July 2010 Massachusetts Port Authority-takeover of the airport. Police services at the airport are now covered by the Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Port Authority Police. Firefighting services are covered by the Massachusetts Port Authority Fire Rescue.

Soldiers' Home Police

The Soldiers' Homes (now known as "Veterans' Homes") in Holyoke and Chelsea, Massachusetts, were both patrolled by dedicated security police departments. Soldiers' Home Police officers were sworn as "special state police officers." Both agencies were disbanded in 2024 due to the Massachusetts Police Reform Law, despite Soldiers' Home special state police officers being exempted from the new law, and the Veterans' Homes are now patrolled by unarmed, non-sworn security guards with assistance from relevant local law enforcement when necessary.

Others

* Holyoke Medical Center Security (select personnel were formerly sworn as SSPOs; as per 2021's Massachusetts Police Reform Law, Holyoke Medical Center declined to comply with the new standards required to obtain SSPO licensure)
* Springfield Park Rangers
* Worcester Housing Authority Police

See also

* List of law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts

References

External links

M.D.C. Police / Massachusetts Metropolitan Police History and Photos


* ttp://archives.lib.state.ma.us/actsResolves/1991/1991acts0412.pdf Massachusetts Acts of 1991 Chapter 412 - "An Act to Consolidate Certain Police Forces in the Commonwealth"
Historic Massachusetts government license plates and history

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