Sandra Birchmore was 15 when she joined a Stoughton Police youth program for kids who hoped to become officers one day. Prosecutors say Matthew Farwell, an officer who helped run that program, began sexually abusing her not long after. In February 2021, Sandra was found dead in her Canton apartment while pregnant. Her death was first ruled a suicide.

Farwell is now on trial in federal court in Boston, accused of strangling Sandra and staging the scene so it would look like she took her own life. His defense says she died by suicide.

Whatever the jury decides, Sandra’s case exposed two dangerous gaps. Police youth programs place adults with badges and authority in close contact with teenagers, often with little outside oversight. And Sandra’s death was labeled a suicide before a full investigation took place. A former assistant principal at the school where Sandra worked said the ruling never added up and reached out to State Police on her own.

Governor Maura Healey and the Massachusetts Legislature can close both gaps by passing Sandra’s Law. It would require abuse-prevention screening and training for every officer who works with minors, ban unsupervised one-on-one contact between officers and youth participants, and give teens and parents a way to report abuse to an independent agency outside the department. It would also require a full death investigation before any unattended death is ruled a suicide, plus an independent review whenever a police officer had a close personal relationship with the person who died.

Teens who join these programs are trusting police to keep them safe. Sandra deserved that protection, and so does every kid who signs up next.

Sign the petition to tell Governor Healey and state lawmakers to pass Sandra’s Law before another young person is failed.