Bill seeks to waive fingerprint check for gun licensing checks in Massachusetts
Updated Jan 21, 2021;
By Katie Lannan | State House News Service
A Webster Republican is again proposing a process that would allow Massachusetts residents to apply for firearms licenses during the COVID-19 pandemic without first getting fingerprinted, refiling legislation that did not gain traction at the tail end of last session.
Rep. Joe McKenna’s bill would allow local police chiefs or the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security to temporarily waive the requirement that applicants for firearms identification cards and licenses to carry a firearm have their fingerprints taken for a background check, if they determine it’s unsafe or unreasonable to collect prints.
PITTSFIELD â The cityâs Police Advisory and Review Board made official Wednesday its support for the stateâs policing reform law.
The board â it serves to advise Pittsfield Police Chief Michael Wynn, to review complaints against the department after internal investigations are complete and to make policy recommendations â voted in favor of endorsing the police reform law, with the understanding that members would release a more detailed statement on the issue after their next meeting. Retired Judge Alfred Barbalunga was the sole review board member to vote ânoâ on the motion.
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âThe Police Advisory and Review Board takes its job very seriously, and we want to be able to set a high standard for law enforcement here locally, while at the same time supporting law enforcement in safe and effective community policing.â
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The Pittsfield, Massachusetts police chief discussed police reform, his department’s spending and how it screens recruits for involvement in extremist movements this week.
During the Police Advisory and Review Board meeting Tuesday, Chief Michael Wynn said the landmark police reform bill signed into law by Governor Charlie Baker at the end of 2020 wouldn’t have a major impact on the Pittsfield Police.
“There was the couple things that had to be implemented immediately, and they were basically the changes in the use of force policies and reporting which we were already working on to begin with, the prohibition on the chokeholds and neck restraints which as you know, we’ve been discussing for a good part of the year and we’re just waiting to see what the actual language is going to look like, and the production of documents concerning previous acts of misconduct, which is ongoing anyway,” said Wynn.
Springfield police leaders criticize reform bill: ‘Getting it done fast was more important than hearing from people’
Updated Jan 17, 2021;
Posted Jan 17, 2021
3/16/2020 -Springfield- Springfield police commissioner Cheryl Clapprood speaks during a meeting at City Hall. In the rear is is Mayor Domenic Sarno. (Don Treeger / The Republican)
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SPRINGFIELD Three weeks after the state enacted a major police reform bill, city police say they are left in an awkward position of waiting to find out exactly what reform will look like.
Springfield Commissioner Cheryl C. Clapprood and the heads of the department’s two unions each said this week that they welcome police reform in general. But they questioned how the law is being rolled out, and worried about a number of uncertainties not stipulated within the bill’s 129 pages.
COVID vaccine rollout: First responders in Massachusetts to start getting vaccinated Monday
Updated Jan 11, 2021;
Posted Jan 11, 2021
Firefighters in Quincy, Massachusetts were among the first first responders in the state to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. As the officials look to roll out more doses of the vaccine, though, many police officers and firefighter say they don t plan on getting vaccinated. (Friends of Quincy Firefighters IAFF Local 792)
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Hundreds of first responders in Massachusetts are expected to start receiving doses of the coronavirus vaccine Monday as part of the state’s phased rollout of the immunization.
Gov. Charlie Baker announced last week that more than 45,000 police officers, firefighters, emergency medical personnel and other first responders in Massachusetts would be eligible for the first dose of the vaccine beginning Jan. 11.