Special Weapons And Tactics Unit of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council. (Mike Jarvis photograph for WHAV News.)
Haverhill Police, a regional SWAT team and emergency medical technicians responded to an incident early this afternoon on the edge of the city’s Acre neighborhood.
What appeared to be officers of the Special Weapons And Tactics Unit of the Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council, Haverhill patrolmen and Trinity EMS were dispatched around 1 p.m., Friday, to Cedar Street, between Fifth Avenue and White Street. Officers taped off an area of Cedar Street. The SWAT arrived with an armored vehicle, wore protective vests and at least some carried assault rifles.
Emergency radio traffic suggests one person was taken to Holy Family Hospital in Haverhill, while an unresponsive individual was taken from White Street to Lawrence General Hospital. An officer was also seen carrying a baby.
Haverhill Deputy Police Chief Stephen J. Doherty Jr. said certain state laws prevent him from speaking about the nature of the incident. As WHAV has reported, the legislature in recent years has forbade release of information from local police departments where sexual assaults, domestic disputes or juveniles are involved. The laws remain on the books despite news organization protests and some victim advocates saying the laws inadvertently serve to protect criminals rather than victims.