They’re crafty bastards, I’ll give them that. But sorry, no, the police cannot be a public/private partnership.
Massachusetts SWAT teams claim they’re private corporations, immune from open records law
As part of the American Civil Liberties Union’s recent report on police militarization, the Massachusetts chapter of the organization sent open records requests to SWAT teams across that state. It received an interesting response.
As it turns out, a number of SWAT teams in the Bay State are operated by what are called law enforcement councils, or LECs. These LECs are funded by several police agencies in a given geographic area and overseen by an executive board, which is usually made up of police chiefs from member police departments. In 2012, for example, the Tewksbury Police Department paid about $4,600 in annual membership dues to the North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, or NEMLEC. (See page 36 of linked PDF.) That LEC has about 50 member agencies. In addition to operating a regional SWAT team, the LECs also facilitate technology and information sharing and oversee other specialized units, such as crime scene investigators and computer crime specialists.
Some of these LECs have also apparently incorporated as 501(c)(3) organizations. And it’s here that we run into problems. According to the ACLU, the LECs are claiming that the 501(c)(3) status means that they’re private corporations, not government agencies. And therefore, they say they’re immune from open records requests. Let’s be clear. These agencies oversee police activities. They employ cops who carry guns, wear badges, collect paychecks provided by taxpayers and have the power to detain, arrest, injure and kill. They operate SWAT teams, which conduct raids on private residences. And yet they say that because they’ve incorporated, they’re immune to Massachusetts open records laws. The state’s residents aren’t permitted to know how often the SWAT teams are used, what they’re used for, what sort of training they get or who they’re primarily used against.
I’m certain that they have many, many firearms that are illegal in the state of Massachusettes. Are the firearms held in the name of the police force? If they are, then can we please see the leasing paperwork from the police chief’s to these LEC’s? If they are not, then there needs to be multiple arrests and convictions.
Also, the funding of these LEC’s, does it come from tax dollars? Can we see there the MA Legislature OK’d the contracting of the LEC’s to the various departments?
Likely as not, none of these questions will be asked. Sometimes, it would be worth it to be an official MA resident for a week.