Debate in State House over cops with guns in court

BOSTON ? Not every police organization is allowed to carry guns into the state’s courtrooms and those that can’t are fighting for the same privileges as their peers.The issue has prompted debate at the State House where a bill has been filed in behalf of the state’s harbor masters, campus police, environmental police, constables, animal rescue officers, municipal and housing police, and police officers on personal business, all of whom must check their firearms before entering the courtroom.Trial court officials stand opposed to the prospect of more guns in the courthouse. State trial court officers do not carry firearms.Officials from the State Police Association of Massachusetts, the Animal Rescue League of Boston and the Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers Association on Wednesday urged lawmakers on the Joint Public Safety Committee to pass a Senate Bill No. 921, which permits any law enforcement officer on official business to carry weapons under the auspices of the authority they are representing.Under the present law, federal police, State Police, local police deputy sheriffs, transit police, and Department of Corrections and Department of Youth Services transportation teams can carry their weapons into the courtroom.”Whether an individual is a State Police officer, municipal officer, environmental police officer, or campus police officer, he or she is trained at a law enforcement academy in the use and safeguarding of a firearm,” said Rick Brown, president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts. “There is no rational reason to exclude certain groups if they have the same training and safeguard protocols.”Brown added that requiring law enforcement personnel to disarm in the courts may actually present more of a public safety risk.David Loos, president of the Massachusetts Environmental Police Officers Association, said trial court officials have been unwilling to amend the policy, forcing officers to seek legislative relief.The Senate and House chairmen of the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Safety Committee seemingly have offered support for the currently disallowed police groups. Rep. Michael Costello, a Newburyport Democrat, called the policy an “unfair edict”. Sen. James Timilty, a Walpole Democrat, said it was not the best example of public policy.Trial court spokeswoman Joan Kenney defended the policy. “The trial court security policy seeks to maintain a safe environment for everyone in the courthouses by minimizing the number of guns allowed inside court facilities,” she said. “Court officers on duty employed by the trial court are not authorized to carry guns in courthouses. The State Police and local police within a particular court’s jurisdiction are allowed to possess guns inside courthouses when they are on official business because they are trained to respond to court emergencies and occasionally assist court officers in difficult situations. Keeping the courthouses as gun-free as possible is the goal of the trial court security department in an effort to keep employees and the public safe.”The bill was filed by Sen. Stephen Brewer, vice chairman of the joint committee.(Material from State House News Service was included in this report.)