On Thursday, July 9, the MA Senate will be voting on a bill to reform how policing is done in Massachusetts.

Although it contains many important provisions, it also leaves far too much on the table, and it contains language that undercuts the ability of the reforms to provide meaningful change.

Here's how you can help.

Tell your senator to support Amendments #10, 21, 27, 31, 37, 64, 65, 67, 75, 81, 108, 113, and 119. These amendments will reinvest in communities, limit the scope and presence of police, ban dangerous police tactics, and protect the rights of the incarcerated.

What These Amendments Do

Reinvesting in Communities

#81: Removing The Cap On Justice Reinvestment (Jehlen): The bill reinvests money from the Department of Corrections into a fund for job training and workforce development for communities disproportionately targeted by the criminal-legal system. The fund, based on the savings produced by reduced incarceration rates, could reach as high as $38 million a year, but the bill caps the fund at $10 million. This amendment would remove the cap.

Limiting the Scope & Presence of Police

Amendment #10: Promoting racial justice by decriminalizing homelessness (Rausch): Promoting racial justice by decriminalizing homelessness (Rausch), which guarantees the right of those experiencing homelessness to use public spaces in the same manner as any other person without discrimination based on their housing status; 

Amendment #31: Banning pretextual stops (Chandler), which prohibits a practice too often employed by police to harass Black and Brown drivers

Amendment #108: Protecting Students from Profiling (Jehlen), which disrupts the school-to-prison pipeline by preventing the transmission of student information to a Fusion Center, the Boston Regional Intelligence Center, or any other agency that keeps a gang database

Banning dangerous police tactics

Amendment #64: Relative to Facial recognition (Creem): The Senate bill bans the use of facial surveillance for law enforcement for only one year. This amendment extends that ban until legislation is passed to implement such a ban permanently.

Amendment #65: Banning tear gas and other chemical weapons (Rausch): The Senate bill bill allows tear gas to be used in certain circumstances, offering no real deterrent to its use. Police should never use tear gas or chemical weapons against civilians. This amendment would prohibit the use of tear gas and chemical weapons altogether.

Amendment #75: Clarifying the Reasonableness of an Officer’s Actions (Eldridge), which creates a higher standard for the use of force

Protecting the Rights of the Incarcerated

Amendment #21: Strengthening visitation of incarcerated persons (Rausch), which removes harmful limitations on visitation imposed by the DOC

Amendment #27: Correctional Officers (Eldridge), which prevents decertified officers from working in prisons and jails

Amendment #37: Transitional Assistance for Wrongfully Convicted Persons (Jehlen), which guarantees $5,000 in transitional financial assistance as well as access to physical and mental health services upon release for those who have been wrongfully convicted

Amendment #113: Prison Use of Force Records (Eldridge), which ensures that an inmate and the inmate’s legally designated representative shall have the right to obtain a copy of all records relating to any use of force incident involving the inmate