Massachusetts passed historic police certification reform. But even with the POST Commission, the public can’t see which cops have been part of the “officer shuffle.”
After the murder of George Floyd by Minneapolis police in 2020, lawmakers in Massachusetts took an action that advocates had been pushing since at least 2010: creating a system to certify — and decertify — police officers. For decades, Massachusetts had been part of a small outlier of states that had no mechanism to prevent a police officer, once trained, from getting hired after they’d been fired or forced out of another agency for misconduct.
“This bill will allow police departments to make better-informed recruitment and hiring choices while improving accountability,” said then Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito when the bill was filed.
Published by Horizon Mass, 2024. Reporting by Chris Faraone and Sam Stecklow.