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FRAMINGHAM, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — The volunteers within the Framingham Auxiliary Police are going to be disbanding their unit after 80 years in service, following requirements from the state. This comes in accordance to Massachusetts' "Justice, Equity, and Accountability in Law Enforcement in the Commonwealth Act" that Governor Charlie Baker signed into law in 2020, and the Massachusetts Police Training Committee which dictates volunteer officers must exercise 2,400 hours of power of arrest patrols and complete in-service training to be certified.
The FAP previously announced that the unit would be disbanded effective midnight on June 30.
According to the FAP's website, the unit is made up of volunteers with backgrounds in contracting, plumbing, IT management, business ownership, security, nursing, accounting, and the medical field.
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WBZ's Suzanne Sausville spoke to Framingham Police Deputy Chief Sean Reilly about the FAP's service.
"We have a large accident scene— or even scenes where there's a crime, they can secure the outer perimeter for us, and it frees up manpower. We're going to deal with the problems as they arise no matter what happens, but we're going to see the issue with residents— the 5k road races, where they got basically free service is now going to have to be a paid overtime or detail," Reilly said.
The FAP Commanding Officer Captain Mark Spigel says the required training was not the main problem for volunteer officers, but rather, the additional stipulations the state layered on that the unit could not meet.
"The biggest one that knocked our group out was 2,400 hours of patrol with the power of arrest— we do not have the power of arrest in Framingham. They made it impossible for part-time and volunteer officers in the Commonwealth to continue," Spigel said.
WBZ's Suzanne Sausville (@wbzSausville) reports.
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