Amherst, UMass in mutual aid pact

By TOM MARSHALL Staff Writer

Published on December 16, 2005

In a pinch, the Amherst and UMass police departments have always helped each other out.

But now that cooperation can take place more easily and without fear of legal liability, following the signing last month of a new mutual agreement between the two forces.

''We need to help each other out all the time,'' said Barbara O'Connor, chief of the 56-officer department at the University of Massachusetts, describing the hectic weekend nights when college is in session. ''(Now) they can just call our dispatcher and say 'We need help.'''

The pact, approved Nov. 28 by the Amherst Select Board, spells out the situations and conditions under which officers from one department can assume arrest powers in the other jurisdiction.

For example, the agreement specifies that officers sent in response to a request from the other force will report to that force's commanding officer, but will still be considered employees of their own force. Neither department is obliged to send aid unless it's able to do so.

Amherst police officials have said the new agreement resolves their concerns over legal liability.

For years, the 52-officer Amherst department swore in its UMass counterparts as ''special police,'' giving them arrest powers within the town of Amherst. But four years ago Chief Charles Scherpa put a stop to that practice, saying it was not in line with state accreditation standards.

The departments continued to cooperate during large-scale operations, including past ''Hobart Hoedown'' riots and sports-related uprisings at UMass. But officials in both departments expressed unease over the arrangement, and said they needed a more formal arrangement.

Last year the Legislature enacted a special law allowing UMass to enter mutual aid agreements, and in May the university signed a similar accord with the town of Hadley.