Dear Conferee:
The Massachusetts Medical Society commends your leadership in taking action to promote racial justice and protect Black and Brown communities in the Commonwealth through structural police reforms achieved in House bill 4860 and Senate bill 2820. As physicians,
we are concerned about the many determinants of health of the people of Massachusetts. Throughout our nation’s history, systemic and institutional power structures have created inequities and perpetuated and exacerbated negative health outcomes for
people of color. Policing is one such power structure. Your recognition that the present time is ripe for police reform is commendable and evidences a great appreciation for the people of the Commonwealth whose lives and health are most affected by
police presence and police interaction. We say this with an acknowledgement that critical introspection and change is equally necessary within the practice of medicine and within our Medical Society.
People of color, who have been historically marginalized, are most affected by violent police interactions, with their health and safety at greater risk from controversial police practices. As the conference committee approaches reconciling bills addressing
these most difficult challenges, the Medical Society would like to offer comments, which are guided by policy principles in furtherance of racial justice, protecting the health of our patients, and the public health of the Commonwealth.
As a core principle, the Medical Society acknowledges that physical or verbal violence between law enforcement officers and the public, particularly among Black and Brown communities where these incidents are more prevalent and pervasive, is a critical
determinant of health with negative health outcomes. As such, the MMS supports further research into the health and public health consequences of racism, including violent police interactions. This is critical, as existing research demonstrates that
racially marginalized communities are disproportionally subject to police force and that a positive correlation exists between policing and adverse health outcomes.
From a more clinical perspective, the Medical Society supports required reporting to public health agencies of any law enforcement-involved injuries or deaths. To that end, MMS encourages appropriate stakeholders, including law enforcement and public
health communities, to define ‘injuries’ for the purpose of systematically collecting data on law enforcement-related non-fatal injuries among both civilians and officers.
To prevent law enforcement-related injuries and deaths, the MMS supports adoption of policies by law enforcement institutions at the local and state levels that focus on management of police interaction with the public. Such policies should include a
use of force continuum that requires minimum necessary force, de-escalation of police interactions with individuals, exhaustion of all alternatives before resorting to the use of lethal force, prohibition of certain use of force mechanisms, including
chokeholds, strangleholds, and other forms of neck restraints, and the issuance of verbal warnings prior to the use of force. Similarly, MMS supports policies that mandate a proportional use of force only where situations necessitate such force, including
restriction of the most severe types of force for only the most extreme situations and clear policy restrictions on the use of each police weapon and tactic regarding use of force.
Again, focusing on the health of individuals involved in police interactions, the Medical Society further supports the establishment of a duty that requires officers to intervene and stop excessive force used by other officers. Similarly, MMS supports
the creation of a statutory right to medical intervention or emergency medical services for people in severe distress while under law enforcement control, where ‘severe distress’ is defined under a layperson standard as meaning severely declining
mental or physical status.
Finally, the Medical Society supports policies that promote accountability and deter the use of force by law enforcement, including, for example, requiring training of law enforcement officers on racism, structural and institutional racism, and implicit
bias. The MMS further supports the creation of a police oversight board to standardize the certification, training, and decertification of police officers.
We believe these principles focus on the health and safety of the people of our Commonwealth, treating racism as a public health issue and recognizing the long history of disparate impacts on people of color resulting from policing in our country. Again,
we would like to thank the legislature for doing this important work aimed at promoting racial justice, safety, and the public health. We look forward to staying engaged and offering comments as appropriate to aid in the legislature’s principled endeavor.
Sincerely,
David A. Rosman, MD, MBA
The following letter was sent to the legislators named to the conference committee tasked with reconciling House bill 4860 and Senate bill 2820, which each address policing reform and racial justice: Rep. Claire D. Cronin, Rep. Carlos González, Rep. Timothy R. Whelan, Sen. William N. Brownsberger, Sen. Sonia Chang-Diaz, and Sen. Bruce E. Tarr.
