City Council shows support for Boston School Police

During this week’s Council meeting, the Council passed a home-rule petition filed by Councilor Baker that would move Boston School Police (BSP) officers from their current retirement classification to one matching other police officers (Group 2).

Currently, BSP officers are classified in Group 1, which consists of officials and general employees, including clerical and administrative workers. Group classification for retirement purposes is determined by the position, occupation, and duties of an employee. Classifying BSP officers as Group 2 would have minimal cost impact because of the membership size and the age of their officers.

The BSP officers are working in schools and serve as the first responders for incidents that occur at the schools, including assaults, fights, drug-related incidents, and weapon recovery. The BSP officers play an important role in maintaining security at the schools and building trust with students, creating and maintaining a safe learning environment.

Councilor Baker stated that the work of BSP officers is comparable to Boston Police Department (BPD) officers, as BSP officers are licensed by BPD as special police officers, and complete public safety and training programs through BPD.

The legislation needs a signature from the Mayor and approval by the State Legislature to go into effect.