6/17/2020 Press Conference on COVID-19 Updates

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On June 17th, Governor Baker gave a press conference to provide a COVID-19 update on Testing, Hospitalizations, and a New Legislation Filed to Implement Police Officer Certification System.

Here is the summary.

Testing

  • Yesterday, there were an additional 6,500 tests reported with around 195 of them confirmed positive.

  • So far over 700,000 people have been tested across MA. 

    • The average positive test rate is down to 2.6%. 

Hospitalizations

  • There are currently around 1,000 people hospitalized and 244 are currently in the ICU due to COVID-19. 

    • This shows nearly a 70% reduction since the middle of April.

New Legislation Filed to Implement Police Officer Certification System

  • The legislation filed today is in collaboration with the Black and Latino Legislative Caucus and Public Safety Officials across the Commonwealth. 

  • The legislation is the first step in a process that the Administration hopes will create transparency, safety, and accountability for law enforcement. 

    • The Administration began working on this effort with the Caucus almost a year ago because MA is one of the very few states that does not have a state-wide certification program for law enforcement.

  • The legislation does three things: 

    • 1.) It creates a certification program for law enforcement officers that must be renewed every three years. This is consistent with how MA certifications in other professions (ie. medicine, education, social work, etc.) are maintained. The legislation will create a database of certified officers and will ensure those officer’s training and conduct records are available to their current and future employers.

      • Members of the public will also be able to access certain information about police officers including their certification status.

    • 2.) It creates a process with community involvement for decertifying a police officer. This means taking that certification away from individuals that do not live up to their training or their oath. 

      • Officers who have been found to use a chokehold, for example, or other forms of excessive force will be automatically decertified. 

      • Officers will also be automatically decertified if they fail to intervene if they witness a fellow officer violating these standards.

    • 3.) It creates incentives for advanced law enforcement training and education. This will focus on de-escalation, community building, collaboration, human rights, and bias.