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For the purpose of this Section, the following definitions shall apply unless the context clearly indicates or requires a different meaning.
FACILITY. Any public or private place, or portion thereof, providing services especially designed for the detoxification of intoxicated persons or alcoholics (M.G.L. Chapter 111B, Section 3).
INCAPACITATED. The condition of an intoxicated person who, by reason of the consumption of intoxicating liquor is:
(1) Unconscious;
(2) In need of medical attention;
(3) Likely to suffer or cause physical harm or damage property; or
(4) Disorderly (M.G.L. Chapter 111B, Section 3).
(CBC 1985 12-14.2; Ord. 2005 c. 3)
(A) Any person who is incapacitated shall be assisted by Police Officer with or without such person’s consent to his or her residence, to a facility or to a Police Station. To determine, for purposes of these Sections only, whether or not such person is intoxicated, the Police Officer may request the person to submit to reasonable tests of coordination, coherency of speech and breath.
(B) Any person assisted by a Police Officer to a Police Station shall have the right, and be informed in writing of said right, to request and be administered a breathalyzer test. Any person who is administered a breathalyzer test shall be presumed intoxicated if evidence from said test indicates that the percentage of alcohol in his or her blood is ten one hundredths (0.10) or more and shall be placed in protective custody at a Police Station or transferred to a facility. Any person who is administered a breathalyzer test, under this Section, shall be presumed not to be intoxicated if evidence from said test indicates that the percentage of alcohol in his or her blood is five one hundredths (0.05) or less and shall be released from custody forthwith. If any person who is administered a breathalyzer test, under this Section, and evidence from said test indicates that the percentage of alcohol in his or her blood is more than five one hundredths (0.05) and is less than ten one hundredths (0.10) there shall be no presumption made based solely on the breathalyzer test. In such instance, a reasonable test of coordination or speech coherency must be administered to determine if said person is intoxicated. Only when such test of coordination or speech coherency indicates said person is intoxicated shall he or she be placed in protective custody at a Police Station or transferred to a facility.
(C) Any person presumed intoxicated and to be held in protective custody at a Police Station shall, immediately after such presumption, have the right and be informed of said right to make one phone call at his or her own expense and on his or her own behalf. Any person assisted by a Police Officer to a facility under these Sections shall have the right to make one phone call at his or her own expense on his or her own behalf and shall be informed forthwith upon arriving at the facility of said right. The parent or guardian of any person, under the age of 18, to be held in protective custody at a Police Station shall be notified forthwith upon his or her arrival at said station or as soon as possible thereafter.
(D) If any incapacitated person is assisted to a Police Station, the Officer in charge, or his or her designee, shall notify forthwith the nearest facility that the person is being held in protective custody. If suitable treatment services are available at a facility, the commonwealth’s Department of Public Health, in accordance with M.G.L. Chapter 111B, shall thereupon arrange for the transportation of the person to the facility in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 111B, Section 7.
(E) No person assisted to a Police Station pursuant to these Sections shall be held in protective custody against his or her will; provided, however, that if suitable treatment at a facility is not available, an incapacitated person may be held in protective custody at a Police Station until he or she is no longer incapacitated or for a period of not longer than 12 hours, whichever is shorter.
(F) A Police Officer acting in accordance with the provisions of these Sections and in accordance with the provisions of M.G.L. Chapter 111B may use such force as is reasonably necessary to carry out his or her authorized responsibilities. If the Police Officer reasonably believes that his or her safety or the safety of other persons present so requires, he or she may search such person and his or her immediate surroundings, but only to the extent necessary to discover and seize any dangerous weapons which may on that occasion be used against the Officer or other person present; provided, however, that if such person is held in protective custody at a Police Station all valuables and all articles which may pose a danger to such person or to others may be taken from him or her for safekeeping and if so taken shall be inventoried.
(G) A person assisted to a facility or held in protective custody by the Police pursuant to the provisions of these Sections and M.G.L. Chapter 111B, Section 8, 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 or her right to make a phone call, whether the person held in custody exercised his or her 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.
(CBC 1985 12-14.3; Ord. 2005 c. 3)
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