The following is an overview of defunct Commonwealth of Massachusetts law enforcement agencies.
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Three of these agencies (Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of Law Enforcement, Massachusetts Capitol Police, and the Metropolitan District Commission Police) were merged in 1992 by Chapter 412 of the Massachusetts Acts of 1991 along with the former Department of Public Safety - Division of State Police to form the current Department of State Police. All officers of the three departments became Massachusetts State Troopers at the time of the merger.
The remaining agencies have been either outright abolished/eliminated, merged with other agencies, had their duties absorbed by other agencies, or were de facto eliminated by refusal to renew the police powers of their personnel.
Blandford Police Department
In July 2018, the entire (four-person) police department of the town of Blandford, Massachusetts resigned simultaneously, citing "unsafe working conditions."[1] While the town government initiated proceedings as to how the situation would be handled, the neighboring town of Chester, Massachusetts offered to assist by patrolling Blandford with Chester Police Department personnel. The Chester Police Department chief was sworn-in as the interim chief of the Blandford Police Department within months, and hired as the permanent police chief by mid-2019. The two towns began exploring joining the two forces together, officially, and by December 2019 this was accomplished. With Chester as the "lead town," the Blandford Police Deparment was dissolved, its assets merged into the newly re-named "Chester-Blandford Police Department." The agency would be the second dual-town police department in Massachusetts after the 2014 creation of the Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department.[2][3]
Boston Municipal Police
The shoulder patch worn by the Boston Municipal Police at the time of their 1 January 2007 disbandment
The Boston Municipal Police (BMP) were founded in 1979 and were armed and sworn police officers. The BMP served as the security police agency of the City of Boston, originally under the Public Facilities Department, but later the Property Management Department. BMP personnel were responsible for law enforcement and security services on most city-owned properties and buildings (to include Boston Police Department properties and buildings). The BMP was dissolved on January 1, 2007 and replaced by the Boston Municipal Protective Services (BMPS), an unarmed security force.
As of 1 January, 2007, BMPS officers initially held special police powers via the Boston Police Department's "Rule 400/400A" licensing scheme. All BMPS personnel lost such police powers due to the passage of the 2021 Massachusetts Police Reform Law and establishment of the POST Commission.[4] BMPS personnel remain under the Property Management Department and are now an unarmed, non-sworn safety, security, and property management service.
Boston School Police
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The shoulder patch worn by Boston School Police at the time of their disbandment
The Boston School Police (BSP) previously served K-12 schools as the security police agency of the Boston Public Schools. The Boston Public Schools were served by a non-sworn "safety and security" force until the BSP’s official establishment in 1982.[5] Like the Boston Municipal Protective Services post-merger, BSP personnel held police powers under the Boston Police Department’s "Rule 400 and 400A" special police officer licensing scheme. BSP officers were always unarmed. BSP officers lost their police powers effective July 1, 2021, when the Boston Police Department declined to renew their special police licenses under the auspices of the Massachusetts Police Reform Act and newly-created POST Commission. The Boston Public Schools, faced with the prospect of a non-sworn, unarmed "police" agency, transitioned the BSP into the "Office of Safety Services," (OSS) effective July 1, 2021; The OSS manages safety and security issues across the Public Schools system via unarmed and non-sworn safety and security officers, crossing guards, etc. The OSS is supplemented, where and when needed, by armed and sworn Boston Police school resource officers.[6] As of 2023, the Boston Public Schools had advised the mayor of Boston that re-creating their own, stand-alone law enforcement agency should be considered. As of 2025, this recommendation has not been acted-upon.[7]
Department of Public Safety - Division of State Police
This is the former statewide police department for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which was founded in 1865; the M.D.C. Police, Registry of Motor Vehicles Police, and Capitol Police merged with this department to form the new Department of State Police in 1992. Prior to being known as the Massachusetts State Police, from 1865 to 1879 the agency was known as the "Massachusetts State Constabulary," or simply the "Massachusetts Constabulary." From 1879 to 1919 it was known as the "Special District Police of Massachusetts" from 1879 to 1919. From 1919 the agency assumed its current name, the "Massachusetts State Police."[8]
Massachusetts Capitol Police
Massachusetts Capitol Police patch
The Capitol Police had the primary function of law enforcement on the grounds and adjacent streets of the State Capitol and all state property. The Capitol police provided vehicle cruiser, motorcycle and traffic patrols, criminal investigations and executive protection services. The Capitol Police station was at 1 Ashburton Place in Government Center and became MSP Barracks H-1.
Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Police
The Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Police Department was formed during the creation of the authority in 1982. The department patrolled the Convention Center Authority owned property including the John B. Hynes Convention Center. The department was disbanded with the opening of the Boston Convention & Exhibition Center in 2004 and contracted security guards were hired to patrol properties. The contracted guards were replaced by the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority Public Safety Department in 2010.
Metropolitan District Commission Police
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Massachusetts Metropolitan Police patch
The Metropolitan District Commission's (MDC’s) police department; the MDC Police was formed in 1893. The MDC Police had the primary jurisdiction of law enforcement on all MDC controlled properties, roadways and all Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) facilities, Reservoirs and Watersheds. Additionally, the MDC Police had patrol jurisdiction on US Route 1 in Chelsea and Revere, Interstate 93 in Boston and Milton (Central Artery and the Southeast Expressway). MDC Police also had full jurisdiction in cities and towns wherever there were MDC facilities or property.
MDC Police were the third largest police agency in New England with over six hundred officers working primarily throughout Metropolitan Boston. They were commonly referred to as The Mets. In addition to patrol functions The Mets provided tactical assistance to area cities and towns in the form of regional SWAT teams, the Marine Unit and tactical operations units. Examples include Tactical Officers assigned to the city of Boston during court ordered school desegregation, assignment as the primary security agency for the Department of State with the responsibility of providing security and escorts for visiting dignitaries and annual assignments to assist cities and towns during the Boston Marathon.
MDC Police also maintained a full-service detective unit to investigate crimes on its primary jurisdiction as well as providing Detectives and undercover agents to area cities and towns, area Drug Task Forces, the (state) Governor's Auto Theft Strike Force, the DEA Boston Drug Task Force, the Secret Service and the FBI.
The last chief of the MDC Police was former Boston Police Commissioner William J. Bratton, who later was NYPD Commissioner and Los Angeles Police Department chief.
The following current Massachusetts State Police Barracks were MDC Police districts:
- · MSP Barracks A4 − Medford (Middlesex Fells MDC District)
- · MSP Barracks A5 − Revere (Revere Beach MDC District)
- · MSP Barracks H4 − Boston (Lower Basin MDC District)
- · MSP Barracks H5 − Brighton (Upper Basin MDC District)
- · MSP Barracks H6 − South Boston (Old Colony MDC District)
- · MSP Barracks H7 − Milton (Blue Hills MDC District)
- · MSP Barracks C7 − Belchertown (Quabbin MDC District)
Additionally, the following State Police Units are based out of former MDC Police facilities:
The following former MDC police stations were closed within the first few years of the consolidation/merger:
- · Wachusett District (Wachusett and Sudbury Reservoirs and watersheds)
- · Nantasket Beach District (Nantasket Beach, Hull)
- · Nahant Beach Substation (Nahant Beach, Nahant)
- · Mounted Unit Stables (Stoneham and Milton)
Massachusetts Parking Authority Police
The Massachusetts Parking Authority Police patrolled the Boston Common Garage, Charles Street and parts of the Boston common, from 1975 until the Parking Authority was disbanded and the garage turned over to the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority in 1982. The patrol force slowly diminished through retirement and officers leaving for other agencies.
Registry of Motor Vehicles Division of Law Enforcement
Massachusetts State Registry of Motor Vehicles Police patch
The Registry Police had the primary function of enforcing motor vehicle safety laws statewide, drivers license testing, crash investigation, enforcing laws & regulations on Registry property, and commercial vehicle inspection, although that had full police powers statewide.
Inspectors of the Registry Police were unique in the fact that as Registry employees they were able to suspend an operator's license on the roadside.
The Registry Police Statewide HQ was located at 100 Nashua St., Boston.
Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Police/Department of Developmental Services Police
The Massachusetts Department of Mental Health Police (previously merged with the Department of Developmental Services & Department of Mental Retardation) patrolled properties operated by the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health such as the Worcester Recovery Center and Hospital, Massachusetts Mental Health Center (MMHC), Bridgewater State Hospital, and the Dr. Solomon Carter Mental Health Center. Despite the Massachusetts Police Reform Law exempting the agency from POST requirements, the state decided to disband the entire department.
New Braintree Police Department
The standalone police department of New Braintree, Massachusetts was absorbed by the neighboring police department of Hardwick, Massachusetts, effective July 1, 2014. The Hardwick Police Department was re-designated the Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department. The final New Braintree Police Department chief retired immediately prior to the merger. As of 2025, the Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department and the Chester-Blandford Police Department are the only (municipal) law enforcement agencies to serve two towns in Massachusetts. The Hardwick-New Braintree Police Department was the first dual-town agency in Massachusetts.[9]
Worcester Airport Police
The Worcester Airport Police patrolled the grounds Worcester Regional Airport. The department was unique in that in provided both law enforcement and firefighting services to the airport. Officers of the Worcester Airport Police were both certified as Massachusetts Special State Police Officers as well as firefighters. The Worcester Airport Police were disbanded in the 2000s. Police services at the airport are now covered by the Massachusetts State Police and the Massachusetts Port Authority Department of Public Safety. Firefighting services are covered by the Massachusetts Port Authority Fire Rescue.
Soldiers' Home Police
Shoulder patch of the now-defunct "Soldiers' Home Police" agencies of the various Soldiers' Homes in Massachusetts.
The Soldiers' Homes (now known as "Veterans' Homes") in Holyoke and Chelsea, Massachusetts, were both patrolled by dedicated security police departments. Soldiers' Home Police officers were sworn as "Special State Police Officers." The agencies were disbanded in 2024 due to the Massachusetts Police Reform Law, and the Veterans' Homes are now patrolled by unarmed, non-sworn security guards with assistance from relevant local law enforcement when necessary.
Others
- Holyoke Medical Center Security (select personnel were formerly sworn as SSPOs; as per 2021's Massachusetts Police Reform Law, Holyoke Medical Center declined to comply with the new standards required to obtain SSPO licensure)
- Springfield Park Rangers
See also
References
External links
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