Massachusetts at a glance
Population by race and Hispanic origin
States in this database with the most similarly-sized populations
Full-time law enforcement staff in Massachusetts
- 17,559 Officers
- 4,202 Civilian staff
Full-time law enforcement officers per 1,000 residents
- 3.15 Massachusetts
- 2.2 National average
Federal grant funding
USA Spending grants to Massachusetts at the state level have not yet been reviewed, please check back soon. To see grant funding to cities and counties within Massachusetts, scroll down to the “Cities and counties we’re monitoring” section of this page.
Military equipment transfers
We were unable to locate any military equipment transfers for this location using the LESO Property Transferred to Participating Agencies database published by the Defense Logistics Agency, or transfer data for this state has not yet been reviewed by our staff. This state may have also acquired military equipment for policing via other sources or programs which is not reported here.
Police misconduct data, consent decrees, and settlements
Data last updated November 17, 2025
This is state-level data, not an aggregate of city and county information.
Settlements
We identified 1 publicly reported settlement that resulted in $40,000,000.00 in monetary compensation to victims.
| Year | Description | Outcome |
|---|---|---|
| 2023 |
In April 2023, the State of Massachusetts agreed to a $40 million settlement in a long-running case brought by police who alleged that the State’s promotional exam to attain the rank of sergeant discriminated against Black and Hispanic candidates. Hundreds of current and former police officers would each receive at least $45,000. The decade-old lawsuit involved officers from Boston, Brockton, Lawrence, Lowell, Methuen, Springfield, and Worcester, along with the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. |
Compensation
$40,000,000.00 |
Counties and cities we’re monitoring in Massachusetts
Data was last updated September 6, 2022
Counties
| Funding | Misconduct and Settlements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| County | Population | Grant funding found | Military equipment value | Consent decree | Public misconduct database | Settlements | |
| No Counties monitored in state | |||||||
Cities
| Funding | Misconduct and Settlements | ||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| City | Population | Officers per 1000 people | Grant funding found | Military equipment value | Consent decree | Public misconduct database | Settlements |
| Boston | 673822 | 4.32 | $8,330,825.85 | $0.00 | No | No | 3 settlements with compensation totaling $39,900,000.00 |
| Fall River | 94687 | 2.75 | $0.00 | $188,342.00 | No | No | 1 settlement with compensation totaling $80,000.00 |
| Peabody | 54180 | 1.75 | $55,973.16 | $0.00 | No | No | None found |
| Springfield | 154886 | 3.53 | $2,268,743.60 | $1,767,727.37 | Yes | No | 4 settlements with policy changes and compensation totaling over $594,997.00 |
| Whitman | 0 | N/A | $0.00 | $0.00 | No | No | 1 settlement with compensation totaling $250,000.00 |
| Worcester | 211289 | 2.44 | $1,369,649.17 | $0.00 | No | No | 3 settlements with policy changes and compensation totaling $9,772,500.00 |