Judiciary Committee considers Sen. Velis’s wiretap modernization legislation

BOSTON — Last week, the Joint Committee on the Judiciary held a public hearing to review several pieces of legislation including state Sen. John C. Velis's refiled legislation to modernize the commonwealth's antiquated wiretap statute.

"At the end of the day, this is all about keeping our communities safe. It is absolutely irrefutable that not only has the nature of crime changed drastically since this statute was created, but also that technology has evolved in countless ways over the past 57 years," Velis said in a press release.

Over the last several years Velis (D-Westfield) has been leading the charge to update the law to enable law enforcement to better investigate and solve serious crimes in Massachusetts.

"Not only has law enforcement advocated for the Legislature to revisit this statute, but our very own justices have also shared concerns of how this antiquated law severely impedes investigations for some of the most heinous crimes," he said.

Despite the evolution of technology and crime over the past 50 years, Massachusetts' wiretap law has not been updated since 1968.

"The wiretap statute was created decades ago with the narrow intent of combating organized criminal enterprises. At that time, lawmakers could not have anticipated the evolving threats we face today — particularly the devastating rise in acts of gun violence and homicides carried out by individuals or loosely affiliated groups outside of traditional organized crime networks," Velis wrote in testimony to the joint committee.

The current restrictions in Massachusetts law prohibit law enforcement from seeking wiretaps in these investigations, something that detrimentally inhibits the ability to do their jobs, he wrote to the committee.

Velis's legislation seeks to expand the list of designated offenses that law enforcement can request a wiretap for to include the unlawful use or possession of a firearm and murder in the first degree. In 2017, then Attorney General Healey shared support for updating wiretap statue alongside local law enforcement and many of the state's district attorneys.

"I firmly believe that reforms to this statute is a conversation we must have, to support law enforcement and for the sake of victims of crimes throughout the commonwealth, and I urge the Committee give this bill a favorable report," he wrote.

Velis is hopeful that the legislation will receive a favorable report by the Committee.

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