Boston Municipal Protective Services

Last updated
Boston Municipal Protective Services Department
Agency overview
Formed2007
Preceding agency
  • Boston Municipal Police
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdictionU.S.
Legal jurisdictionMunicipal
Operational structure
HeadquartersBoston City Hall, Boston, Massachusetts
Parent agency City of Boston Property Management Department
Website
https://www.boston.gov/departments/property-management
A BMPS Patrol Car BMPS Patrol Car 1.JPG
A BMPS Patrol Car

The Boston Municipal Protective Services Department (BMPS) is a former police agency that patrols properties owned and controlled by the City of Boston, the successor agency to the Boston Municipal Police (BMP). The department's primary responsibility is physical security and access control for City-owned buildings and facilities, and it operates as a division of the City's Property Management Department. [1] [2]

Contents

History

The Boston Municipal Police originated in 1979 as the Boston Municipal Security Force within the City's Public Facilities Department; in 1994 it was renamed the Boston Municipal Police Department and moved under what is now the Property & Construction Management Department. The agency had two divisions: unarmed "site officers" and armed patrol/supervisory officers. [3]

In mid-2006, the City advanced a plan that would dissolve the BMP and allow some municipal patrol officers to transfer laterally to the Boston Police Department; the Boston Police Patrolmen's Association (BPPA) opposed aspects of the plan. [4] [5] On December 28, 2006, the state's Human Resources Division approved the voluntary transfer of 33 BMP officers to the Boston Police Department; the remaining personnel were either laid off or reassigned to the new BMPS security division effective January 1, 2007. [6] [7] Contemporary City research also describes BMPS as an unarmed force created in 2007 under Property & Construction Management, with approximately 60 officers at the time and a Director of Security detailed from BPD. [8]

From 2007 through mid-2021, BMPS personnel who exercised police powers did so by holding Special Police Officer licenses under Boston Police Department Rule 400/400A (a licensing scheme the City also used for other municipal units such as Boston School Police). [9] [10] After passage of Massachusetts police-reform legislation (S.2963) and implementation by the POST Commission, incumbent Rule 400/400A commissions required state-approved academy credentials; as a result, Boston revoked most such commissions effective July 1, 2021, leaving BMPS as an unarmed, non-sworn security service. [11] [12] [13] [14]

Jurisdiction

BMP patrol officers formerly held citywide jurisdiction as sworn Special Police Officers under BPD Rule 400A. As BMPS, personnel are limited to security functions at designated City sites, and—following the 2021 reforms—do not exercise police powers unless separately commissioned under state-compliant credentials. [15]

The main agencies and departments serviced by BMPS include the following city-owned assets:

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Property Management". City of Boston. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  2. ↑ "Protective Services Officer – City of Boston". City of Boston Careers. Retrieved November 1, 2025. Municipal Protective Services, a division of the Property Management Department, is charged with ensuring the physical security and safety of City of Boston buildings and facilities.
  3. ↑ "Boston Municipal Police Officers (Former) v. City of Boston (CSC No. 3290–7)". Massachusetts Civil Service Commission. Retrieved November 1, 2025. Findings of fact: (1) In 1979, the City established the Boston Municipal Security Force… (2) In 1994, the City renamed the BMSF as the Boston Municipal Police Department… (3) The BMPD contained two divisions: unarmed site officers and armed patrol officers.
  4. ↑ "Boston Police Patrolmen's Association, Inc. v. Menino (case summary)". Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly. December 4, 2006. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  5. ↑ "Pax Centurion (BPPA newsletter), May/June 2006" (PDF). Boston Police Patrolmen's Association. p. A28. Retrieved November 1, 2025. BPPA communication urging opposition to the merger/bypass of Civil Service laws.
  6. ↑ "Boston Municipal Police Officers (Current at Time of Appeal) and City of Boston (10/26/06)". Massachusetts Human Resources Division/Civil Service. Retrieved November 1, 2025. Decision approving the voluntary transfer of 33 then-BMPD officers to the BPD.
  7. ↑ Cramer, Maria (January 1, 2007). "For Municipal Police, It's the End of the Line". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 3, 2016. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  8. ↑ "Boston's Organizational Structure" (PDF). Boston Municipal Research Bureau. 2014. p. 6. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  9. ↑ "Rules & Procedures". Boston Police Department. Retrieved November 1, 2025. The Internal Affairs Division may also investigate licensed Special Police Officers who violate their license under Rule 400 or 400A.
  10. ↑ "Safety Services – Who We Are". Boston Public Schools. Retrieved November 1, 2025. Our officers… function as Special Officers with powers authorized by Rule 400A, governed by the Boston Police Department.
  11. ↑ "Bill S.2963 – Police Reform". Massachusetts General Court. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  12. ↑ "Boston Police Reforms: September 2021 Community Update". City of Boston. October 4, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2025. BPD is revising Rules 400, 400A, and 400C per the police reform legislation.
  13. ↑ Sennott, Neil (September 6, 2021). "Reimagining Boston's 'other' police force". The Boston Globe. Retrieved November 1, 2025. Notes the loss of arrest powers for 625 special police officers as of July 1, 2021, and that six licenses had been reissued to Boston Housing Authority Police.
  14. ↑ "Police Division". Boston Housing Authority. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
  15. ↑ "Boston Police Reforms: September 2021 Community Update". City of Boston. October 4, 2021. Retrieved November 1, 2025.
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