# campus police and chapter 90



## Guest (Sep 21, 2006)

I do not want to start a war. I am simply trying to settle a bet with a friend. 

Do campus police officers have the authority to make motor vehicle stops either on campus or off? Does it matter if they are sworn deputies in the county they work in?

I have read in some posts that ch 90c/1 identifies campus officers as police officers and therefore they are issued motor vehicle citation books for use on campus.

If they have the authority to stop a car on campus, what statute is it derived from.

If they are deputies as well, do they have power off-campus "to quell disturbance of peace". i.e. reckless/operating to endanger?

Help me win my $100...


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## 209 (Jun 18, 2005)

how much of that $100 do we get?


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## fscpd907 (Jun 5, 2003)

Chapter 90 and its subsequent sections were recently amended to include State and Community College Police Chiefs which now make them eligible to receive Massachusetts Uniform Citation books by statute. They are allowed to enforce Chapter 90 for all violations observed on campus roadways. 

I believe Bridgewater and Salem State are sworn "Town Specials" which allows Chapter 90 enforcement on all public ways in their respective jurisdictions. I think we have a few private colleges in Massachusetts with "Town Special" powers that actively enforce CH. 90.


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## sureshot (Mar 22, 2006)

If you are a private college and have sheriff powers as well, you are ineligible to receive the cite books right?

can you refer me to the statute which relates to the state and community colleges, as originally i thought it was only umass officers. also the statute which relates to sheriffcs not receiving cite books.

thasnk


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## SouthSideCobras (Mar 11, 2006)

*Chapter 134 of the Acts of 2006*

*AN ACT RELATIVE TO CERTAIN MOTOR VEHICLE VIOLATIONS.*

_Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same as follows: _

SECTION 1. Section 22 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2004 Official Edition, is hereby amended by striking out, in line 51, lines 64 and 65, and in line 68, the words "or country" and inserting in place thereof, in each instance, the following words:- , country or jurisdiction.

SECTION 2. Section 1 of chapter 90C of the General Laws, as so appearing, is hereby amended by striking out the definition of "Police chief" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-
"Police chief", the chief or the head of the organized police department of a city or town, the commissioner of public safety, the colonel of state police, the state superintendent of buildings, the chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, a person appointed by the trustees of the University of Massachusetts as chief of the police officers appointed under section 32A of chapter 75, a person appointed by the trustees at each of the commonwealth's state and community colleges as chief of the police officers appointed under section 22 of chapter 15A, persons designated by the commissioner of mental health at each institution of the department of mental health, or by the commissioner of mental retardation at each institution of the department of mental retardation as the chief of the special police officers appointed under section 59 of chapter 22C, or the chief of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority police department.

SECTION 3. Said section 1 of said chapter 90C, as so appearing, is hereby further amended by striking out the definition of "Police officer" and inserting in place thereof the following definition:-
"Police officer", any officer, other than an investigator or examiner of the transportation division of the department of telecommunications and energy, authorized to make arrests or serve criminal process, any person appointed by the registrar under section 29 of chapter 90, any person appointed by the trustees of the University of Massachusetts under section 32A of chapter 75, any person appointed by the trustees at each of the commonwealth's state and community colleges under section 22 of chapter 15A, and any person appointed by the colonel of state police under section 59 of chapter 22C.

SECTION 3A. Section 2 of said chapter 90C, as so appearing, is hereby amended by inserting after the first paragraph the following 2 paragraphs:-
Each police chief appointed by the trustees of the commonwealth's state and community colleges under section 22 of chapter 15A shall certify to the registrar, on or before January first of each year, that:
(a) the police officers appointed by the trustees at the state or community college have been issued a current first aid/CPR certificate;
(b)(i)(A) 51 per cent of such police officers have completed either the basic full-time recruit academy operated or certified by the municipal police training committee or the campus police academy operated by the Massachusetts state police, or
(B) 51 per cent of the police officers have completed a basic reserve/intermittent police officer training course approved by the municipal police training committee and have had at least 5 years experience issuing citations pursuant to this chapter; and
(ii) the remaining 49 per cent of police officers have completed a minimum of a basic reserve/intermittent police officer training course approved by the municipal police training committee;
(c) such officers have completed annual in-service training of no less than 40 hours;
(d) such officers meet the same firearms qualification standards as set from time to time by the municipal police training committee if such officers have been authorized by the board of trustees of the state or community college to carry firearms;
(e) the state or community college police department submits uniform crime reports to the FBI;
(f) a memorandum of understanding has been entered into with the police chief of the municipality wherein the state or community college is located outlining the policies and procedures for utilizing the municipality's booking and lock-up facilities, fingerprinting and breathalyzer equipment if the state or community college police department does not provide booking and lock-up facilities, fingerprinting or breathalyzer equipment; and
(g) the state or community college police department has policies and procedures in place for use of force, pursuit, arrest, search and seizure, racial profiling and motor vehicle law enforcement.
Notwithstanding the previous paragraph, nothing in this section shall limit the authority granted to the police chiefs and police officers at the state and community colleges under said section 22 of said chapter 15A or section 18 of chapter 73.

SECTION 3B. Said chapter 90C is hereby further amended by inserting after section 2 the following section:-
Section 2A. The authority for police officers appointed by the trustees of the commonwealth's state and community colleges under section 22 of chapter 15A to issue citations under this chapter shall be limited to the issuance of citations for violations occurring on the property of state and community colleges. Separate record-keeping and data collection, including, but not limited to, racial or gender profiling data collection and analysis required under chapter 228 of the acts of 2000, shall be performed by such campus police departments, separate from those conducted by any municipal police department or the state police.

SECTION 4. Section 2 of chapter 228 of the acts of 2000 is hereby amended by striking out, in lines 3 and 4, the words "officers in" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- officers, including all police officers as defined under section 1 of chapter 90C of the General Laws, in.

SECTION 5. Section 3 of said chapter 228 is hereby amended by inserting after the word "officers", in line 3, the following words:- , including all police officers as defined under section 1 of chapter 90C of the General Laws.

SECTION 6. Section 6 of said chapter 228 is hereby amended by striking out, in line 2, the words "officers on" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- officers, and all other police officers, as defined under section 1 of chapter 90 of the General Laws, on.

SECTION 7. Section 10 of said chapter 228 is hereby amended by striking out the third sentence and inserting in place thereof the following sentence:-The executive office of public safety shall, in consultation with the attorney general, if such data suggest that a state police barracks or a municipal, college, university or other educational institution or hospital police department appears to have engaged in racial or gender profiling, require such barracks or department to collect information on all traffic stops for a period of 1 year, including those not resulting in a warning, citation or arrest.

SECTION 8. Said section 10 of said chapter 228 is hereby further amended by striking out, in line 14, the words "or the municipality" and inserting in place thereof the following words:- , the municipality, college, university or other educational institution or hospital.
*Approved **June 30, 2006**.*​


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## HELPMe (Dec 17, 2004)

Sheriffs cannot enforce ch90 as they do not have it by statute. So that being said they cannot stop you for a ch90 infraction. Being sworn as a sheriff is really only good if you have an off campus party/disturbance in which sheriffs mostly get their powers from disturbances of the peace. ex public fray, loud music/people etc. 

Most private schools do not have ch90. Some stated before are sworn specials (we are at the school i work for) and have authority to stop any motor vehicle on campus. However, we do not have ticket books from the registry. We have to call the town and ask them to come and assist us with the stop. So it kinda sucks. State and community colleges do have ch90. However, it has to be on property owned or operated by the school.


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## mikeyd1313 (Jul 30, 2006)

:A: <----you and your "friend"


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## Otto (Nov 18, 2003)

HELPMe said:


> Sheriffs cannot enforce ch90 as they do not have it by statute. So that being said they cannot stop you for a ch90 infraction. Being sworn as a sheriff is really only good if you have an off campus party/disturbance in which sheriffs mostly get their powers from disturbances of the peace. ex public fray, loud music/people etc...


WRONG!


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## 94c (Oct 21, 2005)

Otto said:


> WRONG!


so where do they get their citation books from?


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## Guest (Dec 8, 2006)

HELPMe said:


> Sheriffs cannot enforce ch90 as they do not have it by statute. So that being said they cannot stop you for a ch90 infraction.


They have the authority to effect the stop, it's just that sheriffs are not on the approved list of people to be issued citation books by the RMV. If a deputy sheriff has a citation book, the citation would process with no problem.


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## Guest (Dec 8, 2006)

I worked at a small College campus. We had posted speed limits and stop signs. We used our own private ticket book to issue "private fines" for MV infractions. The tickets were usuallly paid because they would go on the students account and had to be paid or they were not receive their dipolma or transcript if they were moving on to a different school.

Years ago John Silber tried like hell to get full Ch. 90 for his department Despite all his friends in the legislature it never happened.


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## SUOKKO (Nov 30, 2006)

On my campus we are only allowed to make chapter 90 stops in our parking lots since the college is surrounded by city roads and we are not sworn specials. We do have joint patrols with the city police which allows us to effect MV stops on the streets. For some reason our citation books are kept under lock and key and only issued to a few choice officers. The rest of us use private "college citations", no matter what the offense the fine is $50.00? We are all SSPO but even I haven't figured out what difference that makes as far as what we are allowed to do off campus?


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## Otto (Nov 18, 2003)

94c said:


> so where do they get their citation books from?


I have no idea. I was responding to the incorrect statement on authority.


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## Mikey682 (May 2, 2002)

Westfield State College is isssued V books and writes them quite a bit, as all of thier roadways/parking lots are PUBLIC WAYS, maintained by the state. Most Chapt. 90 infractions' elements include the violation occuring on a public way, which is why most state and community colleges enforce Chapt. 90.

Private colleges can elect to create thier own violation books, such as Dean College. They work similar to parking tickets, but there is no recourse for non-college affiliated people to pay the tickets, unless they dont want thier cars towed off campus if they default on the payment. Their roads and parking lots are private ways, so Chapt. 90 can not be enforced on those properties.


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## HELPMe (Dec 17, 2004)

Delta784 said:


> They have the authority to effect the stop, it's just that sheriffs are not on the approved list of people to be issued citation books by the RMV. If a deputy sheriff has a citation book, the citation would process with no problem.


Interesting i stand corrected. Do you happen to have a case law for this? I was always told that sheriffs have about as much ch90 enforcement as a fire truck. With no citation books being issued to them and their primary responcibility is to transport prisoners and run houses of correction. I was under the impression that they did not have ch90 enforcement due to no books being issued from the registry.

Are you saying that if a sheriff was given a rmv book by another agency he could serve the citation and it would be upheld in court?


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2006)

HELPMe said:


> Interesting i stand corrected. Do you happen to have a case law for this? I was always told that sheriffs have about as much ch90 enforcement as a fire truck. With no citation books being issued to them and their primary responcibility is to transport prisoners and run houses of correction. I was under the impression that they did not have ch90 enforcement due to no books being issued from the registry.


Commonwealth v. Baez 42 Mass. App. Ct. 565 (1997)
Commonwealth v. Howe 405 Mass. 332 (1989)



HELPMe said:


> Are you saying that if a sheriff was given a rmv book by another agency he could serve the citation and it would be upheld in court?


It would be processed. Whether or not it is upheld is up to the clerk/judge/jury.


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## Guest (Dec 12, 2006)

Q5-TPR said:


> What would they (Sheriff) put as their RMV Agency Code in the Agency Code Box????


Their NCIC code, I would imagine. We get teletype messages from sheriff's departments all the time, I believe Norfolk County is NSO or NSD.

I think you could put "ASS", and no one would notice.


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