Janey signs ban on police chemical, projectile weapons
By Milton J. Valencia Globe Staff,Updated May 13, 2021, 6:19 p.m.
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Acting Mayor Kim Janey.Nicolaus Czarnecki/Pool
Acting Mayor Kim Janey on Thursday signed an ordinance restricting police use of chemical agents and projectiles as crowd control measures, officially enacting a law that she supported last year as a city councilor but that has encountered strong resistance from police.
The council had passed the ordinance last year, with Janey serving as its president, but former mayor Martin J. Walsh vetoed it amid opposition from former police commissioner William Gross, who called it âhighly inflexible.â With Walsh now the nationâs labor secretary, and Janey serving as acting mayor in his stead, the measure narrowly passed again on a 7-5 vote in April.
Massachusetts Homes in on Facial Recognition Accountability
According to a recently proposed Massachusetts bill, companies could soon face penalties for misusing facial recognition technology, causing them to pay hefty fines or go to court.
May 07, 2021 •
bill that would penalize companies that misuse such tech via hefty fines and sanctions enforced by the state attorney general’s office.
The bill, according to Rep. Dylan Fernandes, would prevent companies from sharing customers’ data without their consent as a way to protect individuals from financial, physical or reputational harm.
Examples of actions that the legislation would punish include selling customer data to third parties, scanning data to discriminate against customers or using data in a way that would legally impact a customer’s financial status, housing or employment situation.
Surveillance cameras, like the one here in Boston, are used throughout Massachusetts. The state now regulates how police use facial recognition technology.
Massachusetts lawmakers passed one of the first state-wide restrictions of facial recognition as part of a sweeping police reform law.
The new law sets limits on how police use the technology in criminal investigations. It s one of the first attempts to find middle ground when regulating this
technology, but not all privacy advocates agree that regulation is the right step.
Democratic state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz was one of the leaders behind this push for criminal justice reform.
Steven Senne/AP
toggle caption Steven Senne/AP
Surveillance cameras, like the one here in Boston, are used throughout Massachusetts. The state now regulates how police use facial recognition technology. Steven Senne/AP
Massachusetts lawmakers passed one of the first state-wide restrictions of facial recognition as part of a sweeping police reform law.
The new law sets limits on how police use the technology in criminal investigations. It s one of the first attempts to find middle ground when regulating this
technology, but not all privacy advocates agree that regulation is the right step.
Democratic state Sen. Sonia Chang-Díaz was one of the leaders behind this push for criminal justice reform.