What it does
Let retired police officers use their training to direct traffic at construction sites. It would give Brookline PD more flexibility as they seek to staff every site with a voluntary detail.
What I think
Massachusetts is out of step with other states by requiring police officers to flag construction sites. This is structured to affect availability but not the cost of flagging and maintains a strange relationship between flagging and policework that seems like it's a political favor for the police force that's serving everyone badly in this regard. Can we amend it to make a positive difference by allowing civilians to train for and fill these jobs?
How I'll vote and why
This is a small, incremental improvement, but it is an improvement. I'm concerned it might weaken the coalition to properly reform flagging as I see it, but I weigh that against the work that it takes to get this far and the notion that if this won't pass, we shouldn't expect a larger change to be able to pass either. In two-party politics, marginal improvements that come at the expense of a coalition's unity can be a real problem, but with the structure of Brookline's government, there's a chance to make the incremental change and see what happens.
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