Massachusetts General Laws

Mass. Gen. Laws ch. 41, § 98 (2026)

Powers and duties

✓ current as of July 2026

Find cases: SyfertCases citing this section MAmalegislature.gov (official) JustiaChapter on Justia CornellLII Search CasesGoogle Scholar

Section 98. The chief and other police officers of all cities and towns shall have all the powers and duties of constables except serving and executing civil process. They shall suppress and prevent all disturbances and disorder. They may carry within the commonwealth such weapons as the chief of police or the board or officer having control of the police in a city or town shall determine; provided, that any law enforcement officer of another state or territory of the United States may, while on official business within the commonwealth, carry such weapons as are authorized by his appointing authority. They may examine all persons abroad whom they have reason to suspect of unlawful design, and may demand of them their business abroad and whither they are going; may disperse any assembly of three or more persons, and may enter any building to suppress a riot or breach of peace therein. Persons so suspected who do not give a satisfactory account of themselves, persons so assembled and who do not disperse when ordered, and persons making, aiding and abetting in a riot or disturbance may be arrested by the police, and may thereafter be safely kept by imprisonment or otherwise unless released in the manner provided by law, and taken before a district court to be examined and prosecuted.

Whoever is arrested and charged with any offense committed during a riot, disturbance or mass demonstration may be fingerprinted, in accordance with the protocol of the identification system of the department of the state police and may be photographed.

If a police officer stops a person for questioning pursuant to this section and reasonably suspects that he is in danger of life or limb, he may search such person for a dangerous weapon. If he finds such weapon or any other thing the possession of which may constitute a crime, he may take and keep it until the completion of the questioning, at which time he shall return it, if lawfully possessed, or he shall arrest such person.

Notes of Decisions

Cited in 57 cases (1 in the last 5 years), 1926–2025 · leading case: Commonwealth v. Gernrich, 67 N.E.3d 1196 (Mass. 2017).

Sort: Relevance Newest Treatment

Commonwealth v. Gernrich, 67 N.E.3d 1196 (Mass. 2017). · cites it 8× “269, § 13A; the statute includes within its reach only those law enforcement officers with the full authority to serve as police officers under G. L. c. 41, § 98. Therefore, we reverse the defendant’s conviction.”

Irwin v. Town of Ware, 467 N.E.2d 1292 (Mass. 1984). · cites it 2× “90, § 24 (1) ( a ) (1), makes driving while intoxicated *760 an automobile law violation.”

Cyran v. Town of Ware, 597 N.E.2d 1352 (Mass. 1992). · cites it 4× “shall suppress and prevent all disturbances and disorder' G.L.c. 41, § 98, as amended through St. 1970, c.”

Commonwealth v. Trumble, 483 N.E.2d 1102 (Mass. 1985). · cites it 2× “[2] It is difficult to know why reference is made in all three questions to G.L.c. 41, § 98, because this statute is addressed to the powers of police officers in cities and towns.”

Harvard Crimson, Inc. v. President & Fellows of Harvard Coll., 840 N.E.2d 518 (Mass. 2006). “The powers conferred on employees who are so appointed are, by statute, far less extensive than the powers of regular police officers, see G. L. c. 41, § 98, and they are vested in individual officers, not on the security department of the educational institution as a whole.”

Commonwealth v. Moynihan, 381 N.E.2d 575 (Mass. 1978). · cites it 2× “1 (1968); G.L.c. 41, § 98, that "Officer Smyth was acting properly in his threshold inquiry which resulted in his observations that led to the arrest of the defendants and the seizure of the automobile.”

Lunn v. Commonwealth, 78 N.E.3d 1143 (Mass. 2017). “12, § 11J (constitutional and civil rights violations); G. L. c. 41, § 98 (public disturbances and disorder); G.”

Williams v. State, 962 A.2d 210 (Del. 2008). “3d 501 (2006); compare Mass. Gen. Laws Ann. ch. 41 § 98 with Commonwealth v.”

City of Boston v. Boston Police Patrolmen's Ass'n, Inc., 392 N.E.2d 1202 (Mass. App. Ct. 1979). · cites it 2× “21, § 6B (natural resources officers may carry weapons only as the director "may in writing authorize”); G. L. c. 41, § 98 (police officers of all cities and towns may carry weapons only as the police chiefs may determine); G.”

Commonwealth v. Kiser, 724 N.E.2d 348 (Mass. App. Ct. 2000). · cites it 3× “When they saw contraband on top of his dresser in plain view, they placed the defendant under arrest. The government claims no warrant was required because the loud music was a breach of the peace, and the police entered under the authority of G.”

Commonwealth v. Howe, 540 N.E.2d 677 (Mass. 1989). · cites it 2× “) ("capitol police shall have the same power to make arrests as the state police officers," specifically in the enforcement of traffic rules); G.L.c. 41, § 98 (1986 ed.) ("police officers of all cities and towns" have the power to make arrests).”

Police Comm'r v. Mun. Court of Dorchester Dist., 374 N.E.2d 272 (Mass. 1978). “” See G. L. c. 41, § 98; c. 94G, § 45. The Boston police department applied G.”

Show all 57 citing cases →

Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.