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The Mapping Project

Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro LEC)

The Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro LEC) describes itself as "a consortium of more than 46 local police and sheriff departments in the south metropolitan Boston area which covers 600 square miles and has a corresponding residential population of 850,000 people."

Like other "Law Enforcement Councils" (LECs) in Massachusetts, Metro LEC is a non-profit corporation set up as a professional membership organization for the purpose of linking police forces across the region in communications,  joint training exercises, collective purchases, and joint actions. LECs in Massachusetts have played a central role in militarizing police forces by organizing SWAT teams and purchasing military equipment such as Lenco Bearcats and other armored vehicles for these forces. LECs have tried to assert their status as private organizations to refuse public records requests about their activities. Both the Northeast Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) and the Greater Boston Police Council (GBPC) have explicitly linked the origin of LECs and their "mutual aid agreements" to the policing of anti-war protests in the 60s and 70s. NEMLEC also mentions the civil rights movement and uses coded racist language about the "disorder" arising "as people migrated from larger cities" to explain their origins. (See separate entries on NEMLEC and GBPC) Meanwhile, meeting minutes of the Southeast Regional Homeland Security Advisory Council show the SRHSAC using federal grant money for Metro LEC purchases of military equipment and training. (See separate entry on SRHSAC.)

Metro LEC has several militarized units, including a SWAT Team and a Regional Response Team (RRT). Regarding its Criminal Investigative Division (CID), Metro LEC writes: "ISU detectives may be of assistance to the RRT [Rapid Response Team] and SWAT in virtually all applications. If the RRT is tasked with managing a large crowd, detectives may mingle with protesters or place themselves at the fringes of the crowd for the purpose of gathering intelligence."

A list of Metro LEC's "member agencies" can be found here, and Metro LEC's Executive Board consists of the following officials: Chief Jeffrey Silva, Westwood Police Department, President; Chief Ron Sellon, Mansfield Police Department, 1st Vice President; Chief Christopher Soffayer, Millis Police Department, 2nd Vice President; Chief Gary Sullivan, Easton Police Department, Secretary; Chief Thomas Lynch, Franklin Police Department, Treasurer; Chief Ken Berkowitz, Canton Police Department, At Large; Chief Donna McNamara, Stoughton Police Department, At Large; Chief Mark Thompson, Scituate Police Department At Large; Michelle Goodwin, Norton Police Department, Assistant to the Executive Board.

82 E Main Street Norton, MA

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