Police chiefs in 51 municipalities in Middlesex County have signed an agreement — which they term “historic” — to allow on-duty police officers to cross into another police jurisdiction to carry out arrests, pursuits and other actions without a formal request from the other community when a public safety emergency is declared.
The agreement comes several months after WGBH News reported on the role that self-deployment may have played in the confusion and chaos that followed a shootout in Watertown last year involving police and the Boston Marathon suspects.
The Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association signed what they called the Massachusetts Interagency Mutual Aid Agreement. It empowers on-duty police officers to cross into another jurisdiction unencumbered by traditional protocol requiring officers to contact the other community for permission to pursue.
Police chiefs in Arlington, Lynn, Framingham and other communities pushed for stronger cooperation following the events of April 19 last year when police far and wide poured into Watertown in response to the gunfight with the Boston Marathon bombing suspects Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev. Many officers came on their own — so-called self deployment.
In its statement, the Middlesex County Chiefs of Police Association said:
“Major events like the marathon attacks last year and the security efforts for the marathon this year underscore the need for cooperation among different law enforcement organizations.”
“The officers will either be requested as mutual aid from the neighboring community, or they may 'self activate’ when they observe or become aware of a violation of the law across the border.”
Perhaps significantly, the Cambridge police department — whose leaders raised concerns about self-deployment during the Marathon manhunt — has not signed the agreement.
Public emergencies as defined by the agreement can mean anything from pursuing suspected terrorists to pursuing a drunk driver who crosses into another jurisdiction.
