Mass. gop pledges not to ‘defund’ the police
Massachusetts Republican candidates are signing onto a pledge to fight “any efforts to defund or reallocate” money from police departments.
The pledge vows to “oppose and/or repeal and place any/all ‘Police Reform’ Bill(s) that strips our Police Officers and First Responders of Qualified Immunity, Their right to reasonably defend themselves, Their Right to Due Process, Their Right of Appeal, Their Right to Fair Representation, and/or any Certification Board that does not have a majority of Representation from the Professional Law Enforcement Community.”
The pledge takes particular aim at recent calls to “defund the police” — including moves like Boston’s that officials have presented as “reallocation” of money away from departments and toward other social services.
“I will fight against any efforts to defund or ‘reallocate’ resources from law enforcement budgets,” the pledge continues. “This would include reductions in wages, pay, or benefits related to any ‘reallocation’ proposals.”
Kevin O’Connor, who’s challenging Democratic U.S. Sen.
Edward Markey, signed onto the pledge. As did GOP challengers Helen Brady, Caroline Colarusso, Julie Hall, Tracy Lovvorn and John Paul Moran, who are all running for various U.S. House of Representatives seats around the state.
A raft of GOP challengers and incumbents for the Legislature also signed onto the pledge.
Joe Abasciano, a police officer who currently chairs Mass GOP
Coalition for Law Enforcement and Families, said in a statement, “It’s sad that supporting law enforcement and First Responders has become a partisan issue but I am thankful that this slate of GOP candidates here in Massachusetts are proudly standing up for the men and women that protect and serve our communities.”
This comes after a summer that saw frequent protests following several high-profile police kill
ings of Black people around the country.
Crowds chanted “defund the police,” calling for some money to be taken away from police departments — or, per the wishes of some of the more radical protestors, for departments to be abolished.
Different versions of a police reform bill sit pending on Beacon Hill that include changes to useof-force rules and creation of an
officer licensing board. The more far-reaching of the two bills would also heavily limit “qualified immunity,” the legal doctrine that makes it difficult to sue individual officers.
Mayor Martin Walsh’s budget, passed in late June, moved $12 million from the Boston Police overtime ledger to other programs — though several councilors who wanted much deeper cuts voted against it.