Once again, media outlets in the Commonwealth have targeted, misrepresented and otherwise insulted and smeared the hardworking Troopers of the Massachusetts State Police. Why? To fuel their anti-law enforcement agenda and profit on advertisement revenue earned off our backs.
The Association and our media representatives have written and spoken to numerous reporters, editors and their supervisors. Multiple media statements, and a ready for print letter to the editor, have been sent and promptly discarded because they do not fit the narrative being sold by the Boston Globe and other outlets. How about recognizing the incredible work done daily by Troopers? How about the thousands of calls, patrols and positive interactions with the public every day? How about a 2020 homicide solve rate of 92%? How about a 24/7/365 no-fail responsibility to every single person in the Commonwealth?
We have repeatedly identified the obvious bias against the state police as well as refuted the false reporting on vaccine rates. Of note, we actually exceed the vaccination rate goal set by the Governor for the Commonwealth to achieve herd immunity and have vaccination rates higher than healthcare workers and other, larger, public safety agencies. Unfortunately, the media continues to headline and make clear its bias against the MSP.
The Boston Globe has a 200-word limit for a “letter to the editor.” Since little hope remains for their publishing anything challenging their baseless and malicious so-called reporting, below is the letter we sent to them:
“Your March 15th article on State Police vaccinations is based on an incorrect assumption and the headline “Hundreds declined to get them” is not supported by the facts. You printed that over 850 state police personnel haven’t been vaccinated, but that number is misleading.
Worse, the Globe stated that this faulty assumption “reflected a potential hesitancy” of State Police personnel to be vaccinated. What is the basis of that speculation?
Over 70% of State Police personnel (sworn and civilian), including many of our members, have been vaccinated at one of three MSP sites. The remaining individuals could have been vaccinated as active military, at a pharmacy, by their doctor, or at hundreds of vaccination sites statewide — of which neither the State Police Association, nor the Globe, has a record. Since we can’t ask due to HIPAA, all remaining Troopers could have been vaccinated; the point is, the actual number of unvaccinated personnel is certainly far fewer than 850.
The only relevant vaccination record is of State Police personnel who received shots at three MSP sites. Whether or not a Trooper is vaccinated is a personal choice: there is no mandate, so there is no comprehensive record. No record equals no factual basis for the assumptions in the article.”
In Solidarity,
Corey J. Mackey
Secretary, State Police Association of Massachusetts