PETITION OF:

SECTION 1.. Notwithstanding any general or special law or rule or regulation to the contrary, the administrator of the town of Stoneham may appoint, as the administrator deems necessary, individuals who were Stoneham police officers within the prior twenty-four-month period, but who were laid off as a result of budget cuts, as special police officers for the purpose of performing police details or any police duties arising therefrom or during the course of police detail work, regardless of whether or not related to the detail work. Said police officers must have been regular Stoneham police officers and shall not otherwise be retired from the Stoneham Police Department, and shall not be working as a police officer or in law enforcement for another municipality or other law enforcement entity. The special police officers shall be subject to the same maximum age restriction as applied to regular police officers under chapter 32 of the general laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition. A special police officer must pass a medical examination, by a physician or other certified professional chosen by the town, to determine that he is capable of performing the essential duties of a special police officer, the cost of which shall be borne by the special police officer, prior to performing police details.

SECTION 2. Special police officers appointed under this act shall not be subject to chapter 31 of the general laws, or to section 99A of chapter 41 of the general laws.

SECTION 3. Special police officers shall, when performing the duties under section 1, have the same power to make arrests and perform other police functions as do regular police officers of the town of Stoneham.

SECTION 4. Special police officers shall be appointed for an indefinite term, subject to removal by the town administrator at any time with fourteen days’ written notice. Upon request, the town administrator shall provide the reasons for removal in writing.

SECTION 5. Special police officers shall also be subject to the rules and regulations, policies and procedures and requirements of the town administrator and chief of police of the town of Stoneham, including restrictions on the type of detail assignments, requirements regarding medical examinations to determine continuing capability to perform the duties of a special police officer, requirements for training, requirements for firearms licensing and qualifications and requirements regarding uniforms and equipment. Special police officers shall not be subject to section 96B of said chapter 41.

SECTION 6. Special police officers shall be sworn in before the town clerk of the town of Stoneham, who shall keep a record of all such appointments.

SECTION 7. Special police officers appointed under this act shall be subject to section 100 and section 111F of said chapter 41. The amount payable under section 111F of said chapter 41 shall be calculated by averaging the amount over the prior fifty-two weeks as a special police officer working police details, or averaged over such lesser period of time for any officer designated as special police officers less than fifty-two weeks prior to the incapacity. Payment under said section 111F of said chapter 41 shall terminate when a special police officer reaches the age of sixty-five. In the event the age limitation applicable to regular police officers serving the town is increased from the current sixty-five years of age, the termination of benefits under said section 111F of said chapter 41, as provided herein to special police officer, shall terminate at such a higher age limit, but in no event shall the benefits extend beyond the age of seventy for any special police officer. Special police officers appointed under this act shall not be subject to section 85H of said chapter 32, nor eligible for any benefits pursuant thereto.

SECTION 8. Special police officers shall not be eligible for group insurance, including health insurance, pursuant to chapter 32B of the general laws as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition. However, nothing in this act shall prevent or diminish any rights or privileges the laid-off police officer might otherwise have, pursuant to applicable law, with respect to insurance benefits as a result of having been a regular police officer or having been laid off.

SECTION 9. The town administrator may require that special police officers appointed pursuant to this act obtain, at the special police officer’s cost, disability insurance which would be effective in the event a special police officer was injured in the performance of his duties. If such disability insurance is required by the town, the minimum requirements of such disability insurance policies, including matters of types of coverage, minimum amounts, waiting periods and deductibles, shall be established by the town administrator.

SECTION 10. Special police officers appointed under this act shall not be eligible for any retirement benefits pursuant to said chapter 32, including section 85H of said chapter, in connection with their employment as a special police officer. Additionally, special police officers appointed pursuant hereto shall not be deemed active members in the town’s retirement system, nor shall any compensation paid such special police officers pursuant hereto, whether as regular compensation or pursuant to section 111F of chapter 41, be deemed to be or otherwise qualify as “regular compensation” as defined in section 1 of said chapter 32. Nothing in this act shall diminish the rights the laid-off officer may have pursuant to said chapter 32 as a result of having been a regular Stoneham police officer and laid off.

SECTION 11. Appointment as a special police officer shall not entitle any individual appointed as such to assignment to any detail.

SECTION 12. Special police officers pursuant to this act shall not work for more than nine hundred sixty hours in any calendar year.

SECTION 13. This act shall take effect upon passage.