Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers

It was a years-long effort to persuade city officials and police unions to allow civilians to take on the paid construction details that have long been the exclusive domain of police officers. When the administration of Mayor Michelle Wu in 2023 inked a contract with the patrolmen’s union that allowed civilians to work details, many activists were encouraged.

Soon after the Boston Police Department began in 1999 to use an annual hair test to determine whether officers had used drugs, members of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers began noticing a troubling trend: A disproportionate number of Black cops were testing positive for cocaine.