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HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2317 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1672
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_________________
PRESENTED BY:
Paul J. Donato
_________________
To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:
The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:
An Act to establish a program to improve communications between local law enforcement and
crime victims in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
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PETITION OF:
NAME:DISTRICT/ADDRESS :DATE ADDED:Paul J. Donato35th Middlesex1/16/2025 1 of 4
HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 2317 FILED ON: 1/16/2025
HOUSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . No. 1672
By Representative Donato of Medford, a petition (accompanied by bill, House, No. 1672) of
Paul J. Donato relative to communication between local law enforcement and crime victims.
The Judiciary.
The Commonwealth of Massachusetts
_______________
In the One Hundred and Ninety-Fourth General Court
(2025-2026)
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An Act to establish a program to improve communications between local law enforcement and
crime victims in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority
of the same, as follows:
1 SECTION 1. Section 2 of chapter 28 of the acts of 2023 is hereby amended by inserting
2 after item 0330-0300 the following item:-
3 0330-0330 For use by the trial court to improve and modernize the Massachusetts trial
4court case access website located at masscourts.org ……. $
5 SECTION 2. (a) As used in this section, the following words shall have the following
6meanings, unless the context clearly requires otherwise:-
7 “Department”, the department of state police
8 “Local law enforcement agency”, a law enforcement entity in the Commonwealth of
9Massachusetts.
10 “Office”, a District Attorney’s Office in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts . 2 of 4
11 “System”, a public safety citizen communications system established in subsection (b).
12 “Victim of a crime” or “victim”, a person who has suffered harm from a crime that 13
13occurred in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
14 (b) (1) The office shall establish a program for the purpose of improving
15 communication between: (i) the office; (ii) local law enforcement agencies; (iii) the
16department; and (iv) the victim of a crime. As part of the program, the office shall establish a
17public safety citizen communications system that sends automated updates and messages to the
18victim of a crime without requiring the victim to: (i) download an application for completion; (ii)
19create an account; or (iii) register through a website, telephone call or other method used to
20receive automated updates including, but not limited to, emails or text messages. The office shall
21determine the process by which a victim of a crime opts out of the system.
22 (2) The automated updates and messages sent via the system shall include text messages
23and emails, which may include, but shall not be limited to, the following information: (i) when
24an incident report is created; (ii) updates on the involvement of a local law enforcement agency,
25the department or the office; (iii) when a report was filed and received by a local law
26enforcement agency, the department or the office; (iv) when a case has been opened by a local
27law enforcement agency the department or the office (v) when an arrest has been made relating
28to the case (vi) when a case is pending forensic results; (vii) when a case has been sent to the
29office for prosecution; (viii) when a case has been closed by a local law enforcement agency, the
30department or the office; (ix) updates on other relevant information to the case determined by the
31office; (x) court dates; changes to hearing dates, and (xi) victim resources specific to the type of
32crime committed, which may include hyperlinks or PDF attachments. The System shall have 3 of 4
33demonstrated the capability to integrate to the Department of Corrections VINE-Link System to
34create a seamless statewide notification platform if deemed necessary by the Department of
35Corrections and the office. Nothing in this section shall prevent the office or a local law
36enforcement agency from communicating with the victim of a crime over the phone or in person.
37 (3) The office shall create procedures for local law enforcement agencies and the
38departments to provide the information pursuant to paragraph (2) to the office.
39 (4) The system shall offer messaging and survey functions in multiple languages that are
40appropriate for victims of crimes, including messages and survey responses on an English
41language dashboard for review by local law enforcement agencies, the department and the office.
42 (5) The system shall allow the victim of a crime to be able to choose the language
43interface while using the system.
44 (c) In implementing the pilot program, the office shall seek to:
45 (1) ensure transparency, accountability, and effective communication from the beginning
46through the end of the victim’s interaction with local law enforcement agencies, the department
47or the office;
48 (2) continue to improve the notification capabilities to the victim of a crime;
49 (3) provide all relevant information to the victim of a crime in an expedient manner; and
50 (4) expand the office’s advocacy for victims of a crime and witnesses of a crime.
51 SECTION 3. (a) The office shall, no later than 1 year after the implementation of the 4 of 4
52 program, submit an annual report to the chairs of the joint committee on the judiciary
53detailing:
54 (1) the status of the program;
55 (2) the participation between victims, local law enforcement agencies, the department and
56the office with the system including, but not limited to, the total number of victims who
57participated in the system in any city or town within the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
58where the case is located; and
59 (3) a summary of the responses from the messaging and survey functions by victims of a
60crime pursuant to paragraph (4) of subsection (b) on the successes of the system and possible
61improvements that could be made to the system, provided that no personally identifying
62information shall be included.
63 (b) The office shall provide a report on the overall evaluation of the program to the chairs
64of the joint committee on the judiciary. The report shall make recommendations on:
65 (1) the feasibility and efficacy of permanently adopting the system as an optional
66standardized pathway for providing automated updates and messages to crime victims in the
67Commonwealth of Massachusetts;
68 (2) the feasibility and efficacy of permanently adopting the system as an optional
69standardized pathway for providing automated updates and messages to victims in all counties in
70the commonwealth; and
71 (3) if the system was successful as measured by the number of victims of a crime
72participating in the system and the value of online notification for victims of a crime.