Under authority of the Home Rule Amendment to the Massachusetts
Constitution, there is hereby established a Police Department (hereinafter
called "Department") under the jurisdiction of the Select Board.
It shall be the function of the Department to provide the police
services for the Town of Hadley.
The Department shall consist of a Chief of Police and full-time
and part-time police officers and civilian employees as the Select
Board shall from time to time authorize subject to funding by the
Town. The ranks of the Department shall be Chief, Lieutenant, Sergeant
and officer. A full-time officer shall always be senior in rank to
a part-time officer.
The Department shall be headed by the Chief of Police who shall
be appointed by the Select Board for a term of three years. The Select
Board shall be the appointing and removal authority for all personnel
of the Department. The Chief of Police shall be the chief law enforcement
officer of the Town and the commanding officer of all police officers
and constables of the Town.
It shall be the duty and responsibility of the Chief of Police
to:
A. Perform all duties prescribed by MGL c. 41, § 98 and the
rules and regulations of the Department.
B. Enforce all laws, bylaws, and rules and regulations affecting the
public, investigate all crimes committed within the Town of Hadley,
and maintain public order and safety.
C. Receive and answer complaints of violations of law, bylaws, and rules
and regulations affecting the public.
D. Have charge of, supervise, and assign all police officers of the
Department.
E. Train all police officers.
F. Maintain discipline and ethical conduct within the Department.
G. Have control of and direction of all civilian employees in the Department.
H. Maintain all equipment and buildings of the Department.
I. Have absolute control over all weapons of the Department and their
issue to police officers.
J. Ensure all arrestees of the Department are properly detained and
held by the Department.
K. Maintain adequate books and records of the Department and in sufficient
detail to permit analysis and report.
L. Keep the Select Board advised on the affairs of the Department.
M. Administer the budget of the Department.
N. Administer the Department.
O. Perform such other duties as may be prescribed under law.
The Chief of Police shall cause to be kept at police headquarters
a complete descriptive list of each and every person arrested. Such
list shall give the arrested person's name, nativity, age, height,
complexion, weight, color of hair and eyes, the amount of money he
may have in his possession, his present residence, the offense for
which he is arrested and any other information that the Chief of Police
may deem appropriate. All of the above shall be entered and indexed
in a book to be furnished by the Town. Said book shall be delivered
by each Chief of Police to his successor in office.
Police officers of the Department shall perform their duties
prescribed by the General Laws and Town bylaws, rules and regulations,
and Department orders, under the direction and command of the Chief
of Police, and shall aid and assist the Chief of Police in the performance
of his duties prescribed by this chapter. In the administration and
operation of the Department, the Chief of Police shall be responsible
to the Select Board.
It shall be the duty of the Department to aid the Fire Department
by giving alarms in case of fire and clearing the streets and grounds
in the immediate vicinity of the fire so that the members of the Fire
Department shall not be hindered in the performance of their duties.
The officers of the Department shall have authority to rope
off the streets and grounds in the vicinity of a fire or any other
catastrophe or emergency and to prevent all persons, except members
of the Fire Department and other emergency personnel, from passing
inside the lines.
The Chief of Police is authorized to extend such aid as he may
deem necessary to another city or town at the request of the city
or town in suppression of riots and other forms of violence therein;
provided, however, the Chief shall notify the Select Board of such
assistance.
The Select Board may appoint special police officers for a term
of a calendar year and they may remove the same at any time. Said
police officers shall have and exercise police powers only for the
area designated by the Select Board and shall be subject to such conditions
as the Chief of Police shall establish. No special police officer
shall carry a weapon while on duty unless he has received special
permission to do so by the Chief of Police.
The Chief of Police shall determine and authorize the type,
style and color of uniforms of the Police Department and the color
schemes, insignia, lighting attachments and identification of all
motor vehicles of the Police Department, and except as otherwise provided
by law no person shall wear a similar uniform or drive a similar motor
vehicle that gives the impression of an official Hadley police uniform
or motor vehicle.
The Chief of Police shall promulgate, with the approval of the
Select Board, rules and regulations as he may deem necessary for the
Department and its personnel.