Reform advocates worry the reviews are little more than a rubber stamp and not weeding out problematic officers
In the wake of the police killings of Breonna Taylor and George Floyd in 2020, cries for police reform and accountability reverberated across the country. In Massachusetts, those demands led to legislation that banned chokeholds, limited the use of no-knock warrants, and established a statewide police oversight board.
Known as the Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission, the new board will oversee officers at each one of the state’s 431 law enforcement agencies, identify and investigate corruption, and decertify officers found guilty of misconduct. Its first charge is to evaluate a group of nearly 9,000 officers in person by July 1, a deadline established under the 2020 law, as part of a new recertification process.