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Great Barrington Police Gains Accreditation

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GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass. — The Great Barrington Police Department has met all necessary requirements for full state accreditation from the Massachusetts Police Accreditation Commission and will be the first department in Berkshire County to receive the award.

The department will receive its award at a ceremony, the date of which has not yet been determined.

"We are honored to be the first department in Berkshire County that will be recognized by the accreditation commission," Chief Police Chief William Walsh said. "I commend all of the officers and staff, as it is their day-to-day professionalism and hard work that made this achievement possible. This was a departmentwide commitment that has been several years in the making. The Town can be very proud of our police officers and our staff. In particular, Executive Administrative Assistant Cara Becker and Sgt. Paul Storti served on our Assessment Team and were paramount in this success. I want to thank both of them for their work on the 246 mandatory and 83 optional standards that we had to meet."
 
Accreditation is a long and self-initiated evaluation process by which police departments strive to meet and maintain the highest standards of law enforcement practice. It is considered the best measure of a police department against the established best practices around the country and region, and involves both an internal self-review and an external assessment by the commission's team of experts.

Under the leadership of Walsh, the department was assessed earlier this year by a team of commission-appointed assessors. The assessment team found the department to be in compliance with all applicable standards for accreditation.



The MPAC program requires that departments meet all the mandatory standards and percentage of the optional requirements. These selected measures include: jurisdiction and mutual aid; collection and preservation of evidence; communications; working conditions; crime analysis; community involvement; financial management; internal affairs; juvenile operations; patrol administration; public information; records; traffic; training; drug enforcement, and victim/witness assistance.

The commission offers two program awards: certification and accreditation, with accreditation the higher of the two. Accreditation is granted for a period of three years. Participation in the program is strictly voluntary.

SelectmenChairman Sean Stanton and Vice Chairman Stephen Bannon offered congratulations to the department on this "milestone achievement" at the Board of Selectmen meeting on Monday, Nov. 28.

"Accreditation demonstrates that our police department meets best practices and professional law enforcement standards," Town Manager Jennifer Tabakin said. "This honor is a result of years of hard work and dedication to both the department and town."


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Pittsfield Adopts Surveillance Tech Oversight Ordinance

By Brittany PolitoiBerkshires Staff

PITTSFIELD, Mass.— After two years of preparation, the City Council has adopted a surveillance technology ordinance regarding police body cameras and other equipment.

On Tuesday, a petition from Ward 1 Councilor Kenneth Warren amending the City Code by adding Chapter 18 ½, Surveillance Technology Oversight, was approved.  Warren has championed this effort since 2022— before a five-year contract with body and dash cams was approved.

The ordinance will take effect 180 days after its adoption.

It is based on the Town of Amherst's modified version of the City of Cambridge Ordinance that uses an American Civil Liberties Union model for community control surveillance technology.

"This has been an issue that lots of communities have been looking at, both in Massachusetts and outside of Massachusetts, dealing with software that has some surveillance capability that could possibly have some negative impact on our citizens," Warren said.

The purpose of the ordinance is to provide regulations for surveillance technology acquisition, use by the city, or the use of the surveillance data it provides to safeguard the right of individuals' privacy balanced with the need to promote and provide safety and security.  

It aims to avoid marginalized communities being disproportionately affected by the use of this technology.  Warren would not be surprised if this were encompassed in a statue for statewide standards.

"Police body cameras have the potential to serve as a much-needed police oversight tool at a time of a growing recognition that the United States has a real problem with police violence. But if the technology is to be effective at providing oversight, reducing police abuses, and increasing community trust, it is vital that they be deployed with good policies to ensure they accomplish those goals," the ACLU explains on its website.

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