NEMLEC SWAT team documents

In 2012, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed public records requests with five regional police entities in the state, asking for records about funding, organizational structure, policies and SWAT team deployments. Those groups, called “law enforcement councils”—“LECs” for short—refused to allow access to these documents, claiming that their records were outside the reach of the public records law.

Concerns about the growing militarization of American policing convinced the ACLU of Massachusetts to file a public records request. We thought the people should know how our tax dollars are being used. Are SWAT teams, which are trained to deal with hostage, barricade and active shooter scenarios, being used for that purpose? Are these LEC SWAT teams mostly deployed to respond to hostage cases and terrorist attacks? Or do this Massachusetts SWAT team's internal records point to mission creep driven by the failed, costly war on drugs?

To answer these questions, the ACLU of Massachusetts filed a public-records lawsuit against the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC). We argued that any entity with the power to break down our doors and arrest us in the name of the state should also be required to abide by public transparency laws.

We won. In June 2015, the ACLU of Massachusetts announced we obtained the documents in a settlement with NEMLEC— more than two years after our initial request. This page contains those documents.

Policies, Procedures, and Organizational Charts

  1. Associate Members Roles, Rights & Responsibilities Policy #7 (Rev. 9-1-2006)
  2. By-Laws (11-13-2014)
  3. Interagency Mutual Aid-Assistance Agreement (Executed)
  4. Interagency Mutual Aid-Assistance Agreement
  5. Mass Arrests Policy #10 (10-3-2006)
  6. Membership Obligations & Accountability Standards Policy #20 (11-19-2012)
  7. Operational Unit Activation Procedures Policy #23 (1-11-2012)
  8. Organization & Admin-Agency Records Policy #6 (8-03-2005)
  9. Policy Index
  10. RRT & SWAT Operations Manual (March 2011)
  11. Un-biased Policing Policy #13 (6-5-2007)
  12. Use of Force - Addendum A Policy #22 (1-5-2010)
  13. Use of Force Policy #5 (6-07-05)
  14. Membership - Operations Section Charts

Meeting Agendas

  1. Meeting Agendas 9-2012 thru 2-2015

Budget and Fiscal Information

  1. Annual Budget - FY2012
  2. Annual Budget - FY2013
  3. Annual Budget - FY2014
  4. Annual Budget - FY2015
  5. Financial Statements for Year Ended 6-30-2013
  6. Financial Statements for Year Ended 6-30-2014

Equipment Lists

  1. Inventory list
  2. SWAT equipment inventory
  3. Vehicle list
  4. NERAC funded equipment list

After-Action Reports by Type

FY 2013 summary

FY 2014 summary

Barricade scenarios:

  1. August 3, 2012, Lowell, MA
  2. August 20, 2012, Andover, MA
  3. October 23, 2012, Lowell, MA
  4. June 5, 2013, Woburn, MA
  5. June 8, 2013, Watertown, MA
  6. June 14, 2013, Andover, MA
  7. July 20, 2013, Lowell, MA
  8. March 25, 2013, Somerville, MA
  9. May 21, 2013, Townsend, MA
  10. May 26, 2013, Peabody, MA
  11. December 2, 2013, Lowell, MA
  12. April 18, 2014, Wilmington, MA
  13. June 12, 2014, Dracut, MA

Serving warrants:

  1. November 5, 2012, Tewksbury, MA
  2. October 25, 2012, Methuen, MA (drugs, no knock)
  3. December 3, 2012, Beverly, MA
  4. January 11, 2013, Lowell, MA (drugs, no knock)
  5. January 25, 2013, Amesbury, MA (drugs, no knock)
  6. February 5, 2013, Lowell, MA (drugs, no knock)
  7. February 6, 2013, Beverly, MA (drugs, no knock)
  8. February 12, 2013, Medford, MA (drugs, no knock)
  9. February 26, 2013, Billerica, MA (guns, no knock)
  10. March 7, 2013, Tewksbury, MA
  11. March 8, 2013, Salem, MA (drugs, guns, no knock)
  12. March 23, 2013, Woburn, MA (drugs)
  13. March 30, 2013, Somerville, MA (drugs, no knock)
  14. May 1, 2013, Stoneham, MA (drugs)
  15. May 3, 2013, Stoneham, MA (drugs)
  16. August 1, 2013, Peabody, MA (drugs, DEA involved)
  17. August 21, 2013, Lowell, MA (drugs)
  18. August 28, 2013, Somerville, MA (second version)
  19. October 9, 2013, Lowell, MA (drugs)
  20. October 11, 2013, Dracut, MA (no knock)
  21. November 14, 2013, Newbury, MA
  22. December 11, 2013, Haverill, MA (drugs, guns, no knock)
  23. January 16, 2014, Lowell, MA (drugs, DEA involved)
  24. January 17, 2014, Peabody, MA (drugs, no knock)
  25. February 14, 2014, Peabody, MA (drugs, no knock)
  26. March 14, 2014, Merrimac, MA
  27. March 27, 2014, Haverill MA (drugs, no knock)
  28. April 4, 2014, Amesbury, MA (drugs, no knock)
  29. April 7, 2014, Wilmington, MA (no knock)
  30. May 16, 2014, Saugus, MA
  31. May 23, 2014, Lynnefield, MA (drugs, DEA involved)
  32. June 5, 2014, Stoneham, MA (drugs, no knock)
  33. June 12, 2014, Lowell, MA (drugs)

Suicidal person:

  1. August 7, 2012, Salem, MA (armed)
  2. October 19, 2012, Beverly, MA (armed)
  3. December 12, 2012, Gloucester, MA (armed)
  4. January 14, 2013, Dracut, MA
  5. August 30, 2013, Methuen, MA
  6. September 7, 2013, Gloucester, MA (armed)
  7. September 9, 2013, Dunstable, MA
  8. October 4, 2013, Newton, MA
  9. December 22, 2013, Somerville, MA (armed)
  10. February 21, 2014, Tewksbury, MA
  11. March 18, 2014, Merrimac, MA
  12. May 5, 2014, Danvers, MA

Crowd control/security:

  1. October 16, 2012, Medford, MA (Dalai Lama visit)
  2. April 27, 2013, Tyngsboro, MA (Hells' Angels rally)
  3. June 2, 2013, Waltham, MA (high school graduation)
  4. September 25, 2013, Melrose, MA (security at school the day after a bomb threat)
  5. October 20, 2013, Lowell, MA (Bay State Marathon)
  6. October 30, 2013, Boston, MA (Red Sox World Series)
  7. October 31, 2013, Salem, MA (Halloween)
  8. November 2, 2013, Boston, MA (Red Sox Rolling Rally)
  9. April 21, 2014, Newton, MA (Boston Marathon)
  10. May 3, 2014, Tyngsboro, MA (Hells' Angels rally)

Other:

  1. November 19, 2012, Stoneham, MA (stakeout operation related to robberies)
  2. November 20, 2012, Stoneham, MA (stakeout operation related to robberies)
  3. December 8, 2012, Waltham and Watertown, MA (search for possible violent suspect)
  4. April 3, 2013, Lowell, MA (search for home invasion suspects)
  5. April 2013, Watertown area, MA (Marathon bombing response)
  6. June 6, 2013, Westford, MA (missing person)
  7. July 1, 2013, Tyngsboro, MA (provide backup for ATF for serving of restraining order)
  8. September 24, 2013, Melrose, MA (bomb threat at school)
  9. January 16, 2014, Woburn, MA (drug sting, DEA involved)
  10. January 22, 2014, Billerica, MA (stakeout operation related to drugs)
  11. March 31, 2014, Newton and Billerica, MA (search for carjacking suspect)

Training Documentation

  1. Fiscal year 2013 training documentation (various topics)
  2. Fiscal year 2014 training documentation (various topics)
  3. Training documentation, October 2012 (topics: fitness, nutrition, stress for police officers; equipment inspection; physical training)
  4. Training documentation, November 2012 (topics: fitness; drill; crowd control)
  5. Training documentation, multiple years (various topics)
  6. Training documentation, July 2013 (topic: firing practice in a "shoot house")
  7. Training documentation, August 2013 (topic: active shooter training at high school)
  8. Training documentation, March 2014 (topics: physical training, defensive tactics, equipment inspection, speaker from the FBI on Marathon bombing and IEDs)