For more information on policing in Massachusetts, see entry on Boston Police.
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In 2016, Chief of the Milton Police Department Richard Wells participated a “counterterrorism seminar” in Israel, as part of an all-expenses-paid delegation of US law enforcement to Israel sponsored by the New England chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL). The New England Chapter of the Anti-Defamation League (ADL) sponsors annual all-expenses-paid delegations to Israel for high-ranking New England police, ICE, FBI, and other security officials, where these officials meet with Israeli military, police, and intelligence agencies, with whom they train and exchange tactics including surveillance, racial profiling, crowd control, and the containment of protests.
A 2016 article in The Milton Times, republished by the ADL, described the trip Wells attended as part of a post-9/11 reorientation of suburban US police departments towards an increased focus on fighting "terrorism" through the consolidation of regional police power: "The main focus of Israeli police, according to Wells, is on terrorism prevention, while in the U.S. police forces tend to prioritize crime fighting. Learning from those who have terrorism top-of-mind is one of the rationales for this program, but the point is also to strengthen the relationships between regional law enforcement who may be working together in the future, according to the director of ADL in Boston, Robert Trestan."
The Milton Police Department is listed as a full member of the Greater Boston Police Council, a "law enforcement council" (LEC) set up in the 1970s to link regional police forces and share resources for policing anti-war protests. LECs in Massachusetts have played a central role in militarizing police by organizing SWAT teams and purchasing military equipment such as Lenco Bearcats and other armored vehicles.
The Milton Police Department is a member agency of the Metropolitan Law Enforcement Council (Metro LEC). Like other Law Enforcement Councils (LECs) in Massachusetts, Metro LEC functions to increase regional collaboration between police and sheriff's departments, organizing SWAT teams and obtaining military equipment for use by its member agencies, while operating largely out of public view as a semi-private organization.
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