Massachusetts Institute of Technology Police Department

The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), established in 1861, is located in Cambridge, Massachusetts. In 1987, MIT had about 65 employees in its police department.{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/11/29/us/new-mit-police-chief-is-ready-for-stern-tests.html|title=New MIT police chief is ready for stern tests|last=Kingson|first=Jennifer|date=November 29, 1987|work=The New York Times }} In 2018 it employed 64 officers and 14 civilians.{{Cite report |date=Jan 2020 |title=Full-time law enforcement employees, by state by university and college, 2018: Massachusetts |url=https://ucr.fbi.gov/crime-in-the-u.s/2018/crime-in-the-u.s.-2018/tables/table-79/table-79-state-cuts/massachusetts.xls | publisher=FBI}} This is up from the 51 officers and 3 civilians it had in 2011.{{Cite report |date=May 2012 |title=Full-time law enforcement employees, by state by university and college, 2011: Massachusetts |url=https://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2011/crime-in-the-u.s.-2011/tables/table-79-state-cuts-2011/table_79_full_time_law_enforcement_employees_massachusetts_by_university_and_college_2011.xls |publisher=FBI |quote=Total law enforcement employees: 54. Total officers: 51. }}

In 1987, MIT appointed Anne P. Glavin as its Chief of Police, making her the first woman in New England to be appointed chief of a professional, armed campus police department at a major university.

In 1994, students famously "hacked" (or pranked) the MIT Police by placing a reconstruction of an MIT Police cruiser on top of the Great Dome.{{cite book |author=The Yale Daily News| title=The insider's guide to the colleges, 2009 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=PnQ46IG97S4C&pg=PA372|edition=35th |date=2008 |publisher=St. Martin's Press |isbn=9780312366919 |page=372}}{{cite book|title=Night Work: A history of hacks and pranks at MIT|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=VZjBk366-BAC&pg=PA50|year=2011|publisher=MIT Press|isbn=9780262295017|pages=50–}}

{{See also|Boston Marathon bombing#MIT shooting and carjacking}}

File:Sean Collier Memorial and Stata Center.jpg at MIT]]

On April 18, 2013, around 10:25 pm, MIT patrol officer Sean Collier, age 27,{{cite news|last=Bidgood|first=Jess|title=On a Field at M.I.T., 10,000 Remember an Officer Who Was Killed|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2013/04/25/us/boston-marathon-bombings-developments.html?_r=0|access-date=2014-01-30|newspaper=New York Times|date=April 24, 2013}} of Somerville, Massachusetts, was shot in his patrol car while sitting outside MIT's Stata Center. Collier was transported to Massachusetts General Hospital where he was pronounced dead.{{citation|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/campus-shooting-officer-killed-0419.html|title=MIT Police Officer dies in line of duty; MIT Police determine campus to be safe|work=MIT News}}{{citation|url=http://www.cnn.com/2013/04/18/us/cambridge-gunshots/index.html?hpt=hp_c2 |title=Officer killed on MIT campus near Boston|work=CNN}}{{cite news|last=Smith|first=Jennifer|title=MIT campus police officer fatally injured in shooting|newspaper=Wall Street Journal|date=April 19, 2013|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323309604578431754054345908}} The Institute advised MIT community members on or near campus to stay indoors.{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/MIT/status/325104157050671104|title=If you are on or near campus|author=Staff|date=April 19, 2013 |publisher=Twitter |quote=If you are on or near campus, continue to remain indoors. Shooting situation remains fluid...}} One suspect was later shot and killed; the other was captured the next day.{{citation|url=http://www.theatlanticwire.com/national/2013/04/theres-shooter-loose-and-officer-down-mit/64379|title=An officer's been killed and there's a shooter on the loose in Boston |work=The Atlantic Wire}}{{citation|url=http://www.boston.com/metrodesk/2013/04/18/mit-police-officer-hit-gunfire-cambridge-police-dispatcher-says/UAbtwLVGLwBE5VI7BUyQuL/story.html|title=Chaos descends on Cambridge and Watertown; MIT police officer shot and killed|work=Boston.com}}{{citation|url=http://usnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/18/17817173-campus-police-officer-killed-in-shooting-at-mit?lite|title=Campus police officer killed in shooting at MIT |work=NBC News}} Police investigation suggested that the suspects shot Collier in order to further arm themselves. Some law-enforcement officials said the suspects were seeking to provoke a large-scale confrontation with police.{{cite news|last=Warrick|first=Joby|author2=Sari Horwitz|title=How string of events involving Tsarnaev brothers unfolded|newspaper=Washington Post|location=D.C.|date=April 19, 2013|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/how-string-of-events-involving-tsarnaev-brothers-unfolded/2013/04/19/629d19c6-a929-11e2-8302-3c7e0ea97057_story_1.html|quote=Some officers concluded that the shooting was an effort to provoke a larger confrontation with police. ‘They were looking to start something,’ one official said.}} Collier had been a member of the Somerville Auxiliary Police Department from 2006 to 2009.[http://www.masslive.com/news/boston/index.ssf/2013/08/slain_police_officer_sean_coll.html Notice of death of Collier], masslive.com; accessed February 9, 2015.

One week after the shooting, Collier's open-air memorial service was attended by more than 10,000 people—including thousands of police officers from the New England region and Canada—in a ceremony hosted by the MIT community.{{cite news|last=Faviero|first=Bruno B. F.|title=Thousands attend Sean Collier memorial service|url=http://tech.mit.edu/V133/N21/memorial.html|access-date=2014-01-30|newspaper=The Tech|date=April 26, 2013}}{{cite news|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/thousands-attend-slain-mit-officers-memorial-service/|title=Thousands attend slain MIT officer's memorial service|date=April 24, 2013|publisher=CBS News}} On November 25, 2013, MIT announced the creation of the Collier Medal, to be awarded annually to "an individual or group that embodies the character and qualities that Officer Collier exhibited as a member of the MIT community and in all aspects of his life". The announcement added that "Future recipients of the award will include those whose contributions exceed the boundaries of their profession, those who have contributed to building bridges across the community, and those who consistently and selflessly perform acts of kindness".{{cite news|title=Letter regarding the establishment of the Collier Medal|url=http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2013/letter-collier-medal-1125.html|access-date=2013-11-26|newspaper=MIT News|date=November 25, 2013}}{{cite web|title=Collier Medal|url=https://police.mit.edu/collier-medal|work=MIT Police|publisher=MIT|access-date=2013-11-26}}{{cite news|last=Rocheleau|first=Matt|title=MIT to establish a Sean Collier award|url=https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2013/11/26/mit-establish-annual-award-memory-slain-officer-sean-collier/v3T1hn3Oi7ObLVE9hOm6GP/story.html|access-date=2013-11-26|newspaper=The Boston Globe|date=November 26, 2013}}

There was a spontaneous, improvised temporary memorial to Collier on the MIT campus; the design for a permanent one at the same site was unveiled at an April 2014 ceremony commemorating the one-year anniversary of the bombings and his murder. At that occasion, Cambridge Mayor David Maher announced that the corner of Vassar Street and Main Street, near where his shooting took place, would be renamed "Officer Sean Collier Square". Representatives from his family and MIT ran in the 2014 Boston Marathon to raise money for a scholarship in his honor. His name has been inscribed in the Cambridge Police Department's memorial to its fallen officers.{{cite news|last1=Chandler|first1=David L.|title=MIT ceremony commemorates Officer Sean Collier's life|url=http://newsoffice.mit.edu/2014/mit-ceremony-commemorates-officer-sean-colliers-life|access-date=2015-03-15|work=MIT News|date=April 18, 2014}} The permanent memorial is a granite structure resembling an open hand of peace inviting contemplation, designed by MIT Architecture Associate Professor J. Meejin Yoon. The memorial was completed, and a dedication ceremony was held on April 29, 2015.{{cite news|last1=Chu|first1=Jennifer|title=A memorial built "with big hearts, and all love"|url=https://newsoffice.mit.edu/2015/sean-collier-memorial-unveiled-0429|access-date=2015-05-04|work=MIT News|date=April 29, 2015}}

The MIT Police focus on a safe academic environment as well as emergency medical service 24 hours a day with or without MIT EMS.{{Cite report |date=September 5, 2012 |title=MIT Annual Security and Fire Safety Report, 2012 |url=http://web.mit.edu/cp/www/_docs/MIT-Police-security-report-2012.pdf |publisher=MIT }} MIT Police uses EMT certified officers on cruiser, motorcycle, bicycle, and foot patrols.{{cite web|url=http://web.mit.edu/cp/www/chief_page.htm|title=The Chief|work=Massachusetts Institute of Technology|publisher=MIT Police|access-date=20 April 2013}} {{As of|2013|April}}, John DiFava was the Chief of Police.

Specific offices/services include: Patrol; Crime Prevention Unit; Investigations; Sensitive Crimes Unit; Executive Protection; and Honor Guard.

The MIT Police derive their law enforcement authority as being sworn special state police officers under Massachusetts General Law Chapter 22C Section 63.{{Cite web|title=Department FAQ {{!}} MIT Police|url=https://police.mit.edu/department-faq|access-date=2021-04-28|website=police.mit.edu}}{{Cite web|title=General Law - Part I, Title II, Chapter 22C, Section 63|url=https://malegislature.gov/Laws/GeneralLaws/PartI/TitleII/Chapter22C/Section63|access-date=2021-04-28|website=malegislature.gov}} Additionally, MIT Police Officers hold commissions as deputy sheriffs of Middlesex, Suffolk, and Norfolk Counties, giving them police powers throughout the municipalities where MIT has facilities.

{{Portal|United States}}

• List of law enforcement agencies in Massachusetts
• Campus police
• Cambridge Police Department (Massachusetts)
• Somerville Auxiliary Police Department

{{Reflist|30em}}

• [https://police.mit.edu MIT Police Official Website]
• [http://www.odmp.org/officer/21777-patrol-officer-sean-collier Officer Down Memorial Page - Sean Collier]

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Category:Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Category:University and college police forces of the United States

Category:School police departments of Massachusetts