MA LTC - Protective Custody

[Boston4567]

Hi all,

Recently applied for my LTC and just wanted to advise anyone who is applying of how being taken into protective custody can show up on your record.

In MA, they eliminated the crime of public intoxication and replaced it with something called "protective custody" (MGL c. 111B § 8). Basically, if you're too drunk to walk, passed out, so drunk you might be a danger to yourself or others, etc, they can throw you into the drunk tank for the night or take you to the hospital (if they think you might need your stomach pumped, you injured yourself, etc).

This isn't an arrest or a crime, there's no fine or court appearance, they just let you go once you're sobered up:

A person assisted to a facility or held in protective custody by the police pursuant to the provisions of this section, shall not be considered to have been arrested or to have been charged with any crime. An entry of custody shall be made indicating the date, time, place of custody, the name of the assisting officer, the name of the officer in charge, whether the person held in custody exercised his right to make a phone call, whether the person held in custody exercised his right to take a breathalyzer test, and the results of the breathalyzer test if taken, which entry shall not be treated for any purposes, as an arrest or criminal record.

However, it does look like some PD's do put you into the system somehow (I was fingerprinted from what I recall) and it's added to your "Master Card" DJCIS file. When they run it, it may show up, and they may see the entry and have questions if you don't disclose it.

So the upshot is, you have no duty to disclose, but it's possible they'll see it and ask about it, and in a red town they could theoretically hold it against you for suitability.

 

[Palladin]

Wonderful

 

[Rob Boudrie]

I know green towns where one could expect to be denied due to a very broad view of "lying on the application".

The part about a PC person having a right to a breathalyzer test is interesting.

 

[Boston4567]

I know green towns where one could expect to be denied due to a very brad view of "lying on the application".

The part about a PC person having a right to a breathalyzer test is interesting.

Guess I'm in a good town, was resolved with a 30 second phone call. I was also a teenager at the time and completely forgot about it, though.

In my experience most cops don't want to go through the hassle of PC'ing someone unless they're passed out cold or so bad they can't walk straight, so the .05 and .10 BAC levels are a pretty low bar. A few years back the Foxboro cops were going too far with PC'ing people at Gillette Stadium and got hit with a federal lawsuit. But that was for political reasons, they wanted to show the town busybodies they were combating drinking

 

[Qjake17]

PC has been around forever, I was pc'd a couple times in the early 80's. Never showed on any background check.

 

[Sparky123]

Hi all,

Recently applied for my LTC and just wanted to advise anyone who is applying of how being taken into protective custody can show up on your record.

In MA, they eliminated the crime of public intoxication and replaced it with something called "protective custody" (MGL c. 111B § 8). Basically, if you're too drunk to walk, passed out, so drunk you might be a danger to yourself or others, etc, they can throw you into the drunk tank for the night or take you to the hospital (if they think you might need your stomach pumped, you injured yourself, etc).

This isn't an arrest or a crime, there's no fine or court appearance, they just let you go once you're sobered up:


However, it does look like some PD's do put you into the system somehow (I was fingerprinted from what I recall) and it's added to your "Master Card" DJCIS file. When they run it, it may show up, and they may see the entry and have questions if you don't disclose it.

So the upshot is, you have no duty to disclose, but it's possible they'll see it and ask about it, and in a red town they could theoretically hold it against you for suitability.

Though this may not be a crime it's an opportunity for the licensing authority to take a closer look at the SUITABILTY of the applicant. Now the Chief of police might say to him or herself, why give a LTC to a guy who was falling down drunk and had to be taken into protective custody ? Can I really trust this person with a gun ? What if this happens after he or she get the LTC ? And finally, do I really want to take that chance ? Remember suitability covers a wide range of situations.

 

[Rob Boudrie]

It all depends on what the goal of the PD is.

If it's Brookline, the goal is not assure public safety, but find any reason to issue a denial.

 

[Boston4567]

It all depends on what the goal of the PD is.

If it's Brookline, the goal is not assure public safety, but find any reason to issue a denial.

Exactly.

In my town, passing out drunk in a college dormitory hallway as a teenager over a decade ago is something to chuckle about, or so it appears. YMMV.

 

[CCW]

I was PC'd once in the 80s when riding in a car with a friend who was arrested for OUI. I've never disclosed it on an application and to my knowledge it does not show up.