Boston City Council Looks At Jurisdiction of MassPort Property

Councillor-At-Large Michelle Wu provides notes from Boston City Council meetings. The Boston City Council considered the item below and more at their June 24, 2015 meeting:

Concurrent Police Jurisdiction of MassPort Property: Boston City Council voted unanimously to pass Councilor Murphy's resolution calling on the State Legislature to pass House Bill 2107, which would authorize shared enforcement jurisdiction between the Boston Police and State Police over MassPort-controlled properties within Boston. The resolution came out of a recent hearing that discussed all the consequences of MassPort's enabling legislation that gives State Police exclusive jurisdiction of MassPort-controlled property, including the Seaport. Thus the only neighborhood in Boston without Boston police protection is the South Boston Waterfront.  The BPD has covenants with some surrounding cities and towns that allow them to pursue suspects across municipal borders. Furthermore, state liquor license laws require Boston police to enforce ID-checking and other related alcohol laws, but they can't do that in the Seaport. In reality, BPD will still respond to calls in the Seaport, especially domestic violence or alcohol-related calls, but the charges can be thrown out in court. Concurrent jurisdiction would resolve these matters.

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