Marlborough's Top Cop Comments on Police ID Standardization

Everyone's heard stories about crimes that have occurred by people posing as police officers. This past summer, a man posing as a police officer robbed a mobile home in Wareham.

Last year in Marlborough, . 

There are many ways criminals use an ID or a badge to commit crimes, some of them more rare than others. But still a threat.

Realizing the potential threat to safety, Massachusetts took the initiative and has become the first in the country to implement new ID cards that are uniform in design, and designed to thwart tampering and counterfeiting.

"I think it will certainly curb the potential for fake police IDs," Marlborough Police Chief Mark Leonard said Friday. "These IDs have a hologram much like a drivers license, and I think standardizing them can be helpful towards preventing someone from compromising residents' security."

Leonard also said that the standardized IDs will aid court officers when allowing individuals (law enforcement) to carry firearms on the premises.

He said that because Marlborough was one of the early adopters of the program, the IDs for all Marlborough police officers were provided at no cost to the city. 

"I think this was a good opportunity and it was a good time to get involved in the program."

The cards, manufactured by a secure system by vendor MorphoTrust USA, have features that make them extremely difficult to duplicate, including a Kinegram (which is similar to the seal across a driver's license), department seal, bar code and two photos.

Until now, while officers are required to carry an ID, they varied from state to state, department to department, and were not beyond counterfeiting.

Spearheaded by Bill Brooks, deputy chief for the Wellesley Police Department, departments across the state began issuing new credentials last year, but the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association announced on Thursday at the Northborough Police Department that the ID program is in full swing.

"People posing as a police officer in uniform is rare," said Brooks, "but what is more common is people in plain clothes saying that they are officers. Also, people could try to get a weapon into a secure place. That doesn't happen often, but the effects that it could cause could be devastating if it did."

Presently, 324 of the 351 police departments in cities and towns, as well as MBTA security, have been issued these IDs. That's 13,000 IDs out of 16,000 officers in the state. The initiative cost roughly $320,000, paid for by Homeland Security funds.

So far, the State Police have not enrolled in the system. 

The public is urged to read more about the Massachusetts Police ID program.

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