# Boston Municipal Protective Services

The Boston Municipal Protective Services Department (BMPS) is a former police agency that patrols properties owned and controlled by the City of Boston, the successor agency to the Boston Municipal Police (BMP). The primary responsibility of the agency is to provide physical security and access control for all properties owned and operated by the City of Boston. It is an agency of Boston's Property & Construction Management Department.

## History

The Boston Municipal Police was founded in 1979, so the former Public Facilities Department (now known as Property Management) had a fully functional police force to respond to alarms in schools and other city properties when the city was experiencing many problems due to the Boston desegregation busing crisis. The department originally consisted of unarmed officers; over time, the department grew to have both unarmed (site officers) and armed officers (patrol and superior officers).
In mid-2006, Mayor Thomas M. Menino organized a forced merger of the Boston Police and the Boston Municipal Police, which granted Boston Municipal patrol officers the opportunity to apply to the Boston Police Department as lateral transfers, although employment was not a guarantee. This prompted protest from the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association (BPPA). Unlike members of the BPPA, the Boston Municipal Police were not civil service officers. None of the BMP officers had to pass a civil service exam to get hired, as BPPA members did for the BPD. BMP officers held politically-connected positions and by-passed thousands on the Massachusetts Civil Service Exam hiring list for the City of Boston, including veterans and minorities. BMP officers did not attend the full six-month Boston Police Academy that BPPA members had. Despite the BPPA's objections, 33 BMP officers who passed a vigorous background check, medical and psychological exam, as well as a physical agility test, were transferred to the Boston Police Department on December 31, 2006. On January 1, 2007, the rest of them were either laid off or permitted to reapply to the city's Municipal Protective Services Department as site officers. Boston Municipal Police was dissolved at 12 a.m. on January 1, 2007, and replaced on the same day by the BMPS, an unarmed security force with limited police powers. From 12:01am, January 1, 2007 to 12am, July 1, 2021, BMPS officers held police powers under the Boston Police Department’s "Rule 400 and 400A special police officer" licensing scheme. However, due to the passage of Massachusetts bill S.2963, the 'Police Reform Act,' anyone exercising police powers, including Rule 400A-licensed BMPS officers, are required to prove that they graduated from a Municipal Police Training Commission-approved academy or the Massachusetts State Police-sponsored 'Special State Police Officer (SSPO) Academy;' The City of Boston is still permitted to issue Rule 400 and 400A special police officer licenses, but prospective officers must meet the aforementioned requirements. As of September 2021, only 6 licenses had been re-issued, all to officers of the Boston Housing Authority Police (all of whom had graduated the SSPO academy, at minimum). Thus, of 12:01am, July 1, 2021, BMPS personnel (along with several private entities and city agencies, including the Boston School Police) lost their police powers and it is unclear if any effort is being made to comply with the Massachusetts Police Reform Act and POST Commission rules to re-obtain law enforcement authority. The BMPS is now an unarmed, non-sworn security service.

## Jurisdiction

BMP patrol officers had jurisdiction citywide and were sworn Special Police Officers under Boston Police Department Rule 400A with full police powers. Now as the BMPS, the officers are limited to patrolling specific "sites" located throughout the city. They formerly held full police powers as licensed Special Police Officers under Boston Police Rule 400A despite being unarmed. All BMPS personnel lost police powers due to the Massachusetts Police Reform Law and the establishment of the state POST Commission.
The main agencies and departments serviced by BMPS include the following city-owned assets:
* Boston Police Department property
* Boston Redevelopment Authority property
* Community Schools property and employees
* Community Centers property and employees
* Economic Development and Industrial Corporation (EDIC) property and employees
* Inspectional Services Department property and employees
* Library Department property and employees
* Property Management and Construction property and employees
* Neighborhood Development property and employees
* Boston Public Schools Central Administration Building
* The City of Boston Cemeteries
* The city's Parks and Recreation facilities and employees
* The Boston Transportation Department property and employees