[Brian823]

Halifax OKs police mutual aid accord

By Janice Nickerson, Enterprise correspondent
HALIFAX — Selectmen agreed to enter into a contract with the Southeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council after meeting at the police station Tuesday with Police Chief Michael Manoogian to discuss the proposal.

The contract with SEMLEC will provide the town with regional resources, including police officers from other towns, if needed in incidents requiring specialized training or equipment.

Several towns in the region have already committed their police departments, Manoogian said.

Manoogian said Halifax passed an article at town meeting in 1994 that allows him to enter into reciprocal aid agreements, but the SEMLEC contract requires the approval and signatures of selectmen.

The regional mutual aid response team will also give officers the ability to make arrests in towns other than their own when called upon to provide aid by the chief of the requesting community.

The organization is relatively new, Manoogian said Tuesday, and will need some time to further develop the specialized units and sort out what towns will be purchasing the various types of equipment needed to provide regional support.

Manoogian said several towns south of Halifax have signed into mutual aid agreements by adopting state Chapter 40, Section 8, as have many communities outside Boston, including Gloucester, Lexington, Carlisle and Lincoln. Those towns have agreed to be part of the response of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council.

Manoogian said it is probable that the region will have a marine unit, including trained divers.

Halifax officers will have to be trained in some of the specialized units over the next few years, Manoogian said.

Manoogian said the training will require some overtime pay, but said the return on the services from other departments in emergencies will benefit the town.

"If I have word that there is going to be a protest, and several hundred people are expected, I would only have to make one phone call to the SEMLEC" and they would know which departments within the area have officers specialized in crowd control, he said.

Now, Manoogian said, if that kind of situation were to take place he would call around to area departments one by one requesting help.

Manoogian said he does not anticipate this all coming together overnight, but it is a relatively easy process that will help bring departments together, he said.

"This allows the officers a venue to train together, and bring the officers closer together, through cooperation and knowledge," Manoogian said.

Being the northern most department for SEMLEC, Manoogian said he hopes neighboring departments, including Plympton and Bridgewater, are able to sign the agreement.

Manoogian said that would require voters in those towns to adopt Chapter 40, Section 8, at their spring town meetings.

 

[mpd61]

HOLY JEEZUS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:uc: :uc: :uc: :uc: :uc:

Here we go again. "train together", "take a while to get going", 'Hope other towns accept it." What a waste of time. We already have STOP.
:shock:

Lets start spending $$$ on overtime to train and more $$$ for equipment.
Wait though........Lets see what towns sign on first! Lets re-invent the wheel again WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
:wl: =P~

Stop the Insanity!

 

[SRRerg]

The contract with SEMLEC will provide the town with regional resources, including police officers from other towns, if needed in incidents requiring specialized training or equipment. The organization will need some time to further develop the specialized units and sort out what towns will be purchasing the various types of equipment needed Halifax officers will have to be trained in some of the specialized units over the next few years, the training will require some overtime pay, but said the return on the services from other departments in emergencies will benefit the town.

This is good, towns are still laying off people, the 77th RTT is still on hold, but Halifax will have a marine unit. Thank God, Some of those ponds are pretty big. I am all for mutual aid and assistance, but this is nothing more than an excuse for a few people to go shopping.

I am sure the regional team defenders will assail me now, fine, by all means, just be sure to reread the threads regarding "getting on the job" and "Funding for 77th" - those aren't going away anytime soon....

 

[lima1411]

Sounds like the selectmen in Halifax are being sold a bill of goods by the Chief. The interview of Manoogian is very telling for what he does not say as much as what he does. He claims if he received word of a protest involving several hundred persons ( give me a break... in Halifax, but I digress. ) he'd have to call area departments one by one to request help. Never does he inform them or the paper that all he'd have to do is call the Troop D duty office and request the help of the Sert or Stop teams no cost to the town. " Training will require SOME overtime"... Yeah and just wait till you get the bill for the callout, and the backfills for training and incidents in other towns. It's a wonder how Halifax has been able to survive this long without belonging to such a high speed outfit. Marine Unit, Dive team... Admiral Manoogian has a nice ring.

 

[q5_po]

Halifax already has a "Marine Unit", ie; a boat that the Officers patrol the lakes on during the summer. In this particular area of the State, Dept's are very short staffed and mutual aid is huge. I guess this helps out on the legal end. Halifax Officers regularly respond to E.Bridgewater, Plympton, Hanson, and Middleboro to assist. As well as the other agencies come to Halifax to assist when they are busy. I don't see Halifax getting into a "regional" SWAT team. But who knows, stranger things have happened.

 

[SRRerg]

q5,
It's all smaller population towns down there and I agree, mutual aid is huge. I'm sure Hanson, Halifax, and Pembroke, et al back each other up regularly. I had always assumed most of those town would have a boat for either the FD or PD to use due to all of the ponds, so why do land-locked municipalities need a marine unit?

A mutual aid agreement shouldn't cost the taxpayers any extra money.

 

[q5_po]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about letting each unit do what they are good at and not duplicating services. Now, in speaking with some friends of mine, this is what I have found out about this thing. All this "partnership" is doing is to basically put on paper what is going on right now and to set up a command structure. Now with that said, Halifax, as an example, has 2 quads, a boat, and access to a hovercraft (Halifax FD) for ice rescue. If a kid gets lost in the woods in say Lakeville, the Lakeville Chief can pick up the phone and ask for the resources and there is already an agreement in place to get the resources, and manpower to operate them as quick as possible. From what I have been told this is just to streamline mutual aid type situations, not steal the thunder from any other agencies.

This is just what I have been told by some fairly well placed sources.

 

[bbelichick]

Don't get me wrong, I'm all about letting each unit do what they are good at and not duplicating services. Now, in speaking with some friends of mine, this is what I have found out about this thing. All this "partnership" is doing is to basically put on paper what is going on right now and to set up a command structure. Now with that said, Halifax, as an example, has 2 quads, a boat, and access to a hovercraft (Halifax FD) for ice rescue. If a kid gets lost in the woods in say Lakeville, the Lakeville Chief can pick up the phone and ask for the resources and there is already an agreement in place to get the resources, and manpower to operate them as quick as possible. From what I have been told this is just to streamline mutual aid type situations, not steal the thunder from any other agencies.

This is just what I have been told by some fairly well placed sources.

The well placed sources are lying. Take a look at NEMLEC and tell me all they do are doing is "streamlining mutual aid".

When you start seeing the $500,000 SEMLEC "Happy Fun Cop Van" driving around, you will know you got scammed.

 

[SRRerg]

If it was a streamlined mutual aid agreement, it wouldn't need a high speed name. Problem the high speed names - people want to start buying things to put it on -

Speed dial and a written agreement w/each town - one phone call, and people can back each other up, no extra cost to taxpayer.

 

[j809]

What i don't understand is what is the difference from regular mutual aid to these teams, except for some mutual training.
We have mutual aid with all our surrounding towns and work together, respond to calls in each other's jurisdictions for assistance. None of us have a SWAT team, right now we use MSP STOP Team.

 

[MiamiVice]

Hmmmm Foxborough isn't even in Middlesex County, or North Eastern Mass.................... :roll:

 

[Dane]

Well now, that's about the fanciest looking rig I've ever seen run a parking lot detail! I know it's not "commanding" the "incident" inside the stadium because there is already a permanent command post right inside the back door.

Hmmm...

"Good morning. Senator Pangiotakos' office. May I help you?"

"Yes, as a voting constituent, I'd like to know why my tax dollars are funding unnecessary law enforcment ventures that are costly, duplicative and frivolous."

"Oh?"

"You might want to make yourself comfortable. This is going to take a little while."

 

[GARDA]

Manoogian said several towns south of Halifax have signed into mutual aid agreements by adopting state Chapter 40, Section 8, as have many communities outside Boston, including Gloucester, Lexington, Carlisle and Lincoln. Those towns have agreed to be part of the response of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council.

That is just PISSA!!! :x .....one example given.....Lexington PD does belong to NEMLEC...but guess what...they laid-off NINE officers last year, and by some miracle was able to ONLY re-hire FOUR of those officers this year as a result of some extraordinary early-retirements offered!!!

Do similar South-Eastern-Massachusetts LE Agencies need to re-think their extra curricular activities/capabilities/expenditures before they TOO sacrifice basic services to their communities?
I think so...You do the Math!!!

We all know that a duplication of services is Wasteful! The MSP STOP / SERT Teams are not only readily available; but are also fully capable, and more economical as well. Again...do the math, I smell political gamesmanship here, not conventional wisdom nor practical or traditional
procedure at all............. :FT: .................GO PATS!!! Skin the Cats!

 

[Killjoy]

Sniff....sniff.....why, I smell political bs!!! Just what we need; less cops on the streets and more boats, hovercraft, armored assault vehicles and command posts gathering dust!! SCAMLEC part II......

 

[masstoazcop]

Here is food for thought, instead of wasting money to fund these regional SWAT Teams, how about using that same money to hire more officers. Does that sound reasonable or wierd????

 

[MatchStick]

MA->AZ:

This is MA, hiring more officers and buying less shit would be too LOGICAL.

 

[lima1411]

There is no streamlining going on here. If anything creating new "agencies" only adds to the mess. A new entity requires bureaucracy "hint...hint". This means cops off the streets and out of the towns which pay their salaries and expect their services. A recent conversation with some guys from both Weymouth and Braintree PDs revealed that certain sgts and patrolmen have been spending more time attached to these "teams" than they have in their own towns. This has resulted in some hard feelings amongst those who are left to pickup the slack. Again, in times of budget cuts and cuts in services its only a matter of time before the tax payers start wondering why. I know the chief in my town has already gotten an earful.

 

[mpd61]

Mutual Aid is fine down here on the South Shore. East Bridgewater FD got their Thermal Imaging camera from community fundraising and corporate donations. The EBPD has Bikes/Quads and other toys from grants.

Imagine that! Funding for toys from traditional sources. And sharing with your surrounding towns. Need a K9? Call PCSD. Need firepower call MSP STOP.

Naw... lets just keep spending money
:wl: =P~ :-k

 

[USMCTrooper]

Cape police chiefs forming non-profit with regional aim

Group seen as beneficial for training, competitive grants

By Edward F. Maroney
Time was that a meeting of the Cape's police chiefs would have required that guns be checked at the door, or so it seemed. The lawmen were fiercely protective of their fiefdoms, and woe betide he who urged regionalization.

Population growth and the lure of federal and state funds have a way of changing things, however. Thus it was that a positively chummy brace of chiefs, including Barnstable's John Finnegan, visited the county commissioners Wednesday to speak about a new level of cooperation among the Cape's 15 departments.

Yarmouth Chief Peter Carnes said his colleagues and he are forming a non-profit corporation called the Cape Cod Law Enforcement Council that will be able to accept grants to enhance mutual assistance between police departments. A similar regional police cooperative existed on the Cape in the 1970s, he said, and others can be found in northeast Massachusetts, the Pittsfield area and around Worcester.

With retention of local control a guiding principle, Carnes said, the council would enhance local services by tapping regional resources and coordinate training that speaks directly to the Cape's needs.

Finnegan, who has already drawn instructors from U-Mass Lowell to the Cape to train his officers, noted that Barnstable was looking at expanding its headquarters building and could include a training facility. Attracting a faculty would not be a problem, he claimed.

"Instructors love to come down here, especially those who love to play golf and enjoy the beach," he said with a smile.

Cooperation between departments could extend to forming a rapid response team that would be on the scene faster than a special State Police unit coming over the bridges. Finnegan noted that Barnstable Municipal Airport had to be closed for hours during a recent incident because the response team had to come from off-Cape.

"We could easily find ourselves cut off for a period of time down here," said Dennis Chief John Symington. "This organization provides some legal basis and authority to move people among communities in disasters and critical situations."

Symington stressed that the chiefs are "not looking at creating a regional police agency under regional control." Nor would the organization take over any of the county sheriff's functions or those of the Cape Cod Drug Task Force, according to Carnes. :^o

"We are a county that prides itself on local control," Finnegan said. "This is about getting our federal and state tax dollars back."
Getting those dollars requires an upfront investment for legal costs involved in state and federal registration of the group, however.
"How much?" asked commissioner Lance Lambros.
"How much have you got?" Carnes replied with a grin.
All kidding aside, it appeared that $10,000 was a target sum, one that could come from the county's legal reserve. No commitments were made, but Lambros stressed his interest in the county involving itself more with public safety issues.
Longtime county official Mary LeClair, now a commissioner, praised the chiefs for cooperating so effectively.
"I can remember when you didn't want to sit in the same room together," she said.

http://www.yarmouthpolice.com/ypdwebnew/CCRLEC.htm
WHY!?!?!?!?!?!?!
:shock:

Board weighs joining regional police group

http://www.lowellsun.com/Stories/0,1413,105~4761~1888466,00.html
DITTO!?!?!?!?!?
:shock:

 

[Webster]

Did any other community, besides Natick, file any grievences or ULP's when this crap started?