The following defunct Commonwealth of Massachusetts police agencies were merged in 1992 by Chapter 412 of the Massachusetts Acts of 1991 to form the current Department of State Police and are no longer in existence.
This is the former statewide police department for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, which was founded in 1865; the M.D.C. Police, Registry of Motor Vehicles Police, and Capitol Police merged with this department to form the new Department of State Police in 1992 (Did not have to go through in-service training since the other agencies were merging with this one). Prior to being known as the Massachusetts State Police, the department was known as the Special District Police of Massachusetts from 1879 to 1919.
The R.M.V. Police had the primary function of enforcing motor vehicle safety laws statewide, drivers license testing, accident investigation, enforcing laws & regulations on Registry property, and commercial vehicle inspection.
The Registry Police Statewide HQ was located at 100 Nashua St., Boston.
The Capitol Police had the primary function of law enforcement on the grounds and adjacent streets of the State Capitol and all state property. The Capitol police provided vehicle cruiser, motorcycle and traffic patrols, criminal investigations and executive protection services. The Capitol Police station was at 1 Ashburton Place in Government Center and became MSP Barracks H-1.
The Metropolitan District Commission's Police Department; the Massachusetts Metro Police was created in 1893. The Metro Police had the primary jurisdiction of law enforcement on all MDC controlled properties, roadways and all Massachusetts Water Resources Authority (MWRA) facilities, Reservoirs and Watersheds. Additionally, the Metro Police had patrol jurisdiction on US Route 1 in Chelsea and Revere, Interstate 93 in Boston and Milton (Central Artery and the Southeast Expressway). The Metro Police also had full jurisdiction with communities throughout Greater Boston.
The Metro Police were the third largest police agency in New England with over six hundred officers working primarily throughout Metropolitan Boston. In addition to patrol functions the Metro Police provided tactical assistance to area cities and towns in the form of regional SWAT teams, the Marine Unit and tactical operations units. Examples include Tactical Officers assigned to the city of Boston during court ordered school desegregation, assignment as the primary security agency for the Department of State with the responsibility of providing security and escorts for visiting dignitaries and annual assignments to assist cities and towns during the Boston Marathon.