Saugus Police Lt. proposes ID verification law to increase police powers in town

SAUGUS-Police Lt. Stephen Sweezey is looking for a little help in identifying suspected criminals and he’s hoping Town Meeting members will give him the tools to get the job done.Selectmen approved an article for the next special Town Meeting that seeks to establish a True Name Verification regulation.The regulation would essentially allow police officers to stop and ask someone they deem a suspect or suspicious person to identify themselves, regardless of where they are standing.Current state law allows police officers to question suspicious people, but only if they are on public property. Gated communities and private property, Sweezey said, has always been a gray area.Sweezry said the proposed bylaw is consistent with the “stop and frisk rule” that allows law enforcement to stop and frisk anyone for weapons if they have a reasonable suspicion that a crime has taken place or is about to take place and the subject is armed and dangerous. In a challenge, the Supreme Court of Ohio upheld the ruling, claiming that it was not a violation of the Fourth Amendment prohibiting unreasonable search and seizures.Sweezey argued that people must have a license to drive, carry a firearm, own a business and for numerous other reasons, but it is not always so easy to get a person of interest to produce that I.D.”The culture of gang activity is now coming into town from other communities and those that would be involved pose a real danger to residents,” he said.Sweezey said it’s always been a quandary whether an officer has the right to approach someone they feel is suspicious when officers lack hard evidence they’ve done anything wrong. He cited hand-to-hand drug deals as an example, saying many laws prohibit asking the same person sighted on the same street corner at the same time every day for identification, even though police suspect they are dealing drugs.Sweezey’s proposed regulation would lay aside any claim that an officer was violating one’s rights by simply asking for identification.”The whole point is to allow officers to have another tool in their belt,” he said.Selectman Peter Rossetti said the bylaw was a long time coming and he would gladly support it. Chairman Donald Wong agreed.”Because times have changed and unfortunately not for the best,” he said. “It’s very essential.”