By Bob Katzen
The Municipalities and Regional Government Committee held a hearing on legislation that would allow cities and towns to make a property owner responsible for the cost of excessive noise complaint calls made to the police about noise at the owner’s address. Under the bill, the property owner would be required to reimburse the city or town for each police call that exceeds more than ten in a calendar year.
“When our police departments respond to a disturbance, it represents a cost to the municipality and the taxpayers,” said sponsor Rep. Bruce Ayers (D-Quincy). “This bill creates a method by which cities and towns can recoup that cost when it comes to frequent offenders of issues such as disturbing the peace, excessive noise or suspicious activity. After ten police calls regarding complaints for a specific address or location within one calendar year, this bill permits local municipalities to impart the costs associated with these calls and subsequent actions taken on the property owner. This creates a further incentive to curb the behavior while also easing the burden on the police department, municipality and the taxpayers.”
EQUIP ALL FIRST RESPONDER AND PUBLIC SAFETY VEHICLES WITH AUTOMATED EXTERNAL DEFIBRILLATORS (S 1517) – The Public Safety and Homeland Security Committee held a hearing on a bill that would create the Automatic External Defibrillator Trust Fund which would provide grants to municipalities, public colleges and universities to purchase Automated external defibrillators (AEDs). The fund would be financed by a new 50-cent tax on the rental of cars and other vehicles in the Bay State.
“Passage of this legislation is critical to enhancing public safety. AEDs are life-saving devices which can be incredibly instrumental for individuals who undergo sudden cardiac arrest,” said sponsor Sen. Ryan Fattman (R-Sutton). “Setting aside dedicated funding to ensure all the commonwealth’s public safety vehicles are equipped with this device is paramount, especially in communities and locations where AEDs are not readily available and accessible.”