# M.P.A. Info



## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

Are D.O.C. officers eligible to join the M.P.A.?


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## MatchStick (Apr 1, 2003)

Your best bet is to approach the MPA as an agency looking to join. Numbers speak for themselves. Check out www.masspolice.com 
It is not entirely up to date, but you will notice the variety of agencies and agency types listed when you click on "contacts". Inquiries regarding joining as an agency should be directed to MPA Secretary Timothy McCusker Jr. His email is on the website.


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## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

Thanks Matchstick,

I have emailed several board members at masspolice.com including the Secretary but have got no response. My co-workers do not know much about it or even seem interested. I believe that officers of our State Trans. are eligible because they hold special state police commissions. I do as well. Anyone with further guidance I would appreciate it.


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## j809 (Jul 5, 2002)

No, DOC cannot join. Hence the words "Massachusetts POLICE Association".We already have to many people running around with decals on their cars that shouldn't have them.


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## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

j809,
You need a hug? Oh, you think I want to join for the sticker. I can buy one of those on ebay. 

I know Mass Parole Officers are eligible but the email for their Rep. is not working. That must piss you off after all they are not "police". Have a nice day and thanks for your help.


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## Macop (May 2, 2002)

I think j809 is RIGHT!!!


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## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

We already have a Fraternal Order of *Police* Lodge. Soon we will be part of M.P.A.


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## Piper (Nov 19, 2004)

No offense Screw, and I admit you have a very respectable and difficult job, but I also feel the MPA should be for full time cops only. Membership loses it's meaning with a weakening in its' standards. Parole officers should not be members either.
FYI, with both DOC and a county jail in my town, I ALWAYS extend corrections officers every courtesy I can.


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## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

THE FORGOTTEN COP 


What would the average citizen say if it were proposed that Police Officers be assigned to a neighborhood which was inhabited by no one but criminals and those Officers would be unarmed, patrol on foot and be heavily out numbered? I wager that the overwhelming public response would be that the Officers would have to be crazy to accept such an assignment. However as you read this, such a scenario is being played out in all areas of the country. 

We are Correctional Officers. Not Guards (who are people that watch school crossings). We work at minimum, medium, and maximum security Correctional Facilities. We are empowered by the State to enforce its Penal Laws, rules, and regulations of the Department of Correctional Services. In short we are Policemen. Our beat is totally inhabited by convicted felons who, by definition, are people who tend to break laws, rules, and regulations. We are out numbered by as many as 50 to 1 at various times of our work day and contrary to popular belief, we work without a side arm. In short, our necks are on the line every minute of every day. 

A Correctional Facility is a very misunderstood environment. The average person has very little knowledge of it's workings. Society sends it's criminals to Correctional Facilities and as time passes, each criminals crime fades from our memory until the collective prison population becomes hordes of bad people being warehoused away from decent society in a place where they can cause no further harm. There is also the notion that prison inmates cease to be a problem when the are incarcerated. 

Correctional Facilities are full of violence perpetrated by the prison population against the prison population and facility staff. Felonies are committed daily but are rarely reported. They are called "unusual incidents" and rarely result in criminal prosecution. Discipline is handled internally and, as a rule, the public is rarely informed of these crimes. In the course of maintaining order in these facilities, many Officers have endured the humiliation of having urine and feces thrown at them. Uncounted Correctional Officers have been kicked, bitten, stabbed and slashed with home made weapons, taken hostage, murdered and even raped in the line of duty, all while being legally mandated to maintain their Professional Composure and refraining from any retaliation which could be the basis for dismissal from service. 

In addition to these obvious dangers,Correctional Officers face hidden dangers in the form of AIDS, Tuberculosis, Hepatitis B and C. Courts are now imposing longer sentences and the prison population is increasing far beyond the systems designated capacity. As the public demands more police on the street, governments everywhere are cutting police in prison where violence reigns supreme, jeopardizing all those working behind prison walls. 

Although you will never see us on "911" or "Top Cops" we are Law Enforcement Professionals. We are the "FORGOTTEN COP," hidden from public view, doing a dangerous beat, hoping someday to receive the respect and approval from the public who "WE SILENTLY SERVE." 

Donald E. Premo, Jr. 
New York State Corrections Officer


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## Piper (Nov 19, 2004)

you are not serving all that silently


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## RETCOP (Jan 16, 2005)

SCREW, The best thing is to contact the Sectry via phone at Cambridge PD(has rank of Deputy,last I knew). One questionoes DOC have POA? I think you might be eligble to join. I want to say that I saw some kind of repersentaions for DOC in the MPA long time ago.


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## PBC FL Cop (Oct 22, 2003)

DOC and Sheriff C/O's can be members of the Florida Police Benevolent Association (PBA), but they cannot be members of the FOP unless they have arrest powers.

Stay safe!!!


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## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

RETCOP,

Thank you for your help. I appreciate that you gave an answer to my question, rather than on opinion like certain others.
To answer your question: As a C.O. who has a special state police commission we do have very _limited_ and _restricted_ POA. And in almost all cases we need the presence of a *"real cop"* to assist us.
Thanks again, I will call the Secretary and anticipate further representation for the DOC in the MPA.


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## Piper (Nov 19, 2004)

Anyone read that editorial in the Patriot Ledger on saturday by the MA Sec of Public Safety? Flynn said that 120 CO's got kicked out of the MA DOC Union for participating in the DNC. Sounds like their own Union does not want them doing law enforcement either.


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## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

:musicboo: 

COMMENTARY: Bay State is safer today than two years ago

By EDWARD A. FLYNN

Recent events have once again raised the specter of a terrorist attack in our area. Our response to those potential threats is firmly guided by a homeland security strategy founded upon collaboration between every level of government. A successful homeland security approach for Massachusetts - both in terms of prevention and response - demands inter-agency and inter-jurisdictional cooperation and preparation.

In January 2003, I was appointed Secretary of Public Safety by Governor Mitt Romney and given the tremendous opportunity to build a homeland security plan and strategy for the commonwealth. My initial approach was based primarily on my experiences as Chief of Police in Arlington, Va., on Sept. 11, 2001. Last fall, the 9/11 Commission Report attributed the successful response to the 9/11 attack on the Pentagon to ‘‘the strong professional relationships and trust established among emergency responders,'' and ‘‘the pursuit of a regional approach to response.''

As my office has put the concept of regionalism into practice in Massachusetts in the past two years, pre-existing collaboration between local police and fire departments have served as useful examples for other communities. The state's first regional law enforcement council (LEC) emerged 35 years ago in northeastern Massachusetts. Municipal fire departments have been working together for 30 years as part of 15 regional fire districts.

In addition, we had the benefit of a focusing event: the Democratic National Convention (DNC). For many states, homeland security is a purely hypothetical scenario. As the first national political convention since the 9/11 attacks and a designated National Special Security Event, the DNC forced Massachusetts to put our theories and plans into action.

What did we learn from the DNC about our capacity to prevent or respond to a terror attack?

First and foremost, the police, fire and emergency response agencies in this state work well together. The Boston Police Department did a great job as host agency, but credit also goes to dozens of state and local public safety agencies from other jurisdictions that provided staff and equipment for the DNC security effort.

Second, convincing police and fire departments to work together was only one piece of the puzzle. Collaboration had to be supported through complex legal and financial arrangements, which raised a separate set of challenges. Multi-jurisdictional cooperation must be supported both through good will and laws that encourage, rather than impede, such partnerships. Neither crime nor disaster observes city and town limits, and our public safety services must be able to work together across boundaries to effectively prevent and respond to major incidents.

Third, in spite of the progress we have made, the concept of regionalism has met with some opposition. One-hundred twenty Department of Correction employees who volunteered to assist with DNC security were ejected from their union by the Massachusetts Correction Officers Union. One Merrimack Valley municipality refused to allow its police department to provide any assistance to the DNC. The State Police union recently launched a campaign to discourage municipal officials from participating in LECs.

That kind of resistance to cooperation - to change - is understandable, but it is also dangerous. If someone wanted to design a form of government uniquely vulnerable to terrorism, it would look a lot like the distributed, federalist system we embrace here in the United States. In a post-9/11 world, we no longer have the luxury of turf battles.

We are entering our second year of implementing Massachusetts' Regional Homeland Security Strategy. Last year we awarded $45 million on federal homeland security funds to the Bay State's five homeland security regions based on a threat, vulnerability and risk assessment of each region. Each region has developed a plan, approved by my office, for how homeland security money can be put to the most efficient and effective use to prevent and prepare for a terror attack in their area.

The realization of those regional plans represents a sea change in how we do business in the commonwealth. Every time we respond to intelligence about even the most unlikely terrorist attack, we use the opportunity to put our plans into practice. The increase in the level of coordination I have observed in each of those instances has convinced me that we are safer today than we were two years ago. No free society will ever be invulnerable to a terror attack, but we are strengthened by our willingness to share our skills, our knowledge and our resources.

Edward A. Flynn is Massachusetts secretary of public safety.

Copyright 2005 The Patriot Ledger
Transmitted Saturday, January 22, 2005


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## j809 (Jul 5, 2002)

Well I am sorry you feel that way ScrewBall. When I was a state college campus cop I was special state police officer but I did not contact SPAM and ask to join their association because I am technically a special state police officer and I am technically entitled to state police benefits. DOC are specials when they transport their prisoners and when the Governor asks them for assistance, a technicality just like all the Sheriffs that seem tot think they can stop cars and issue citations(even though they are not being issued any LEGALLY from the RMV) because of little technicalities and common law. The DOC has their own union and association with their own decals. Be proud and place those on your car. The MPA should be only for FT officers and not part time,specials, auxiliaries,dispatchers,secretaries. Some departments just don't care and neither does the MPA as they are collecting dues. About 15 years ago, the MPA was very strict on who joined.


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## Piper (Nov 19, 2004)

Can I join a DOC Association? I've never worked in a correctional facility but it makes as much sense as guys joining the MPA who have never done street police work (by that I mean going into violent domestic calls and take charge in someone else's home, pull over cars by yourself when you know your back up is far away, etc). Having some weird "special" police authority does not make you a cop. 

Without sounding too corney, if you want to talk the talk, take the police officer civil serice exam, get hired in a manner free of politics, graduate from a real Academy and then you can walk the walk.


(boy, that did sound corney!)


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## Guest (Jan 25, 2005)

No, sounds pathetic. You guys fell for that one hook line and sinker. Its obvious the question was asked facetioulsy because he already knew the answer.


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## screw (Jan 10, 2005)

I'm just amazed how easily offended some people get. FYI, I know my place in LE. Learn to be humbler.


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