BOSTON (WHDH) - Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker testified before state lawmakers on Tuesday in an attempt to make a case for his “dangerousness” bill, which would make it easier for law enforcement officials to hold dangerous suspects.
Baker first filed the legislation after a pair of Bay State police officers were shot to death on the job last year by career criminals.
“The goal here is to simply give the courts one more tool that they can use to determine if somebody in front of them should be held because they’re dangerous, before trial,” Baker said of his proposed legislation.
Yarmouth Police Sgt. Sean Gannon was shot in the head and killed while he and other officers attempted to serve a probation warrant in April 2018. The suspected murderer, 29-year-old Thomas Latanowich, has more than 100 criminal charges on his record, according to prosecutors.
Just a few months later, Weymouth Police Sgt. Michael Chesna was shot and killed during a foot pursuit. Emanuel Lopes, 20, who is charged in Chesna’s death, was out on bail and is said to have had a history of run-ins with the law.
Weymouth Police Capt. Richard Fuller attended Tuesday’s hearing in support of Baker’s bill.
“There’s a lot of important measures in the bill that will make us safer and make the public safer,” he told 7News.
The bill would let judges consider a defendant’s entire criminal history, instead of just the charges before the court, in addition to expanding the list of offenses that can be used to hold a defendant as a dangerous person before trial.
Under the bill, police would be required to fingerprint all people arrested, regardless of the charge. It would also make it a felony to cut off a court-ordered GPS bracelet.
Rahsaan Hall, of the American Civil Liberties Union, is not a fan of the bill.
“It’s a broad expansion of police power and prosecutor power without any balance on the other side,” he said.
Randy Gioia, of the Committee for Public Counsel Services, feels the bill is a step backward.
“We don’t need this bill right now. Last spring, we just passed a major criminal justice reform that emphasized diversion from the criminal justice system,” he said.
Baker’s bill is in committee. Baker hopes it will advance to a vote.
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