Boston Municipal Protective Services
 | This article's tone or style may not reflect the encyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. (July 2008) |
"Municipal Protective Service" is a police agency that patrols properties owned and controlled by the City of Boston. It is also known as the Boston Municipal Protective Services Department (BMPS). Before the establishment of that agency, there was the Boston Municipal Police (Munis, "Ghostbusters"or BMP). The primary responsibility of the agency is to enforce all laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts and ordinances of the City of Boston on and within all properties owned and operated by the City of Boston. It is an agency of Boston's Property & Construction Management Department.
History
The formal founding date of the Boston Municipal Police is 1979. The department was created so the former Public Facilities Department (now known as Property Management) could have a fully functional police force to respond to alarms in schools and other City buildings when the City was experiencing many problems due to the busing situation. The department at its origin consisted of unarmed officers; over time, the department consisted of both unarmed (site officers) and armed officers (patrol and superior officers). Boston Municipal Police was dissolved on January 1, 2007, at 12:00 a.m.[1] On the same day, it was replaced by the "Boston Municipal Protective Services." It is currently an unarmed security force.
Jurisdiction
The Municipal police patrol officers had jurisdiction city wide and were sworn Special Police Officers under Boston Police Department Rule 400A with full police powers. Now as the Boston Municipal Protective Service, the officers are limited to patrolling specific "sites" located throughout the City, but still hold full police powers and are licensed as Special Police Officers despite being unarmed. Their authority is derived from the Boston Police Commissioner. 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
Merger
In Mid-2006, Mayor Thomas M. Menino organized a forced merger of the Boston Police and the Boston Municipal police (which was really not a "merger" in the true sense of the word; the so-called "merger" was actually an opportunity granted to the Boston Municipal patrol officers 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. The Boston Municipal Police unlike members of the BPPA were not Civil Service Officers. None of the Officers of the BMP had to pass a civil service exam to get hired on the BMP like members of the BPPA have for the BPD. BMP Officers were politically connected positions. They 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 have. Unlike BPPA members, who have passed a Civil Service Exam to get hired, BMP Officers were allowed to back door the process via the courts to become civil service Officers. Despite the BPPA's objections, the Munis who passed a vigorous background check, medical & psychological exam, as well as a physical agility test were transferred to the Boston Police Department December 31, 2006. There were only 33 who were transferred to the BPD. On January 1, 2007, the rest of the Munis were either laid off or allowed to reapply to the City's Municipal Protective Services Department as site officers.