In the News

WATCH: Arlington Police Chief Joins Middlesex Sheriff on 'Beyond the Badge'

April 21, 2016 - Arlington Police Chief Frederick Ryan joined Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian and Cambridge Police Commissioner Robert Haas to discuss criminal justice reform during Thursday's edition of Beyond The Badge.

Middlesex Jail graduates 28 inmates from educational, vocational programs

April 21, 2016 - More than two-dozen inmates currently incarcerated in the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction marked their successful completion of educational and vocational programs during a ceremony April 7.

Koutoujian, Arciero: A new tool against child predators

April 16, 2016 - New and emerging technologies have led to significant advances in how and where we are able to communicate with one another, but they have also further opened a dark corner of the electronic world.

Middlesex sheriff speaks during Retired Men's Club of Arlington meeting

March 24, 2016 - Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian was the guest speaker at the March 23 Retired Men’s Club of Arlington meeting.

Governor, Sheriff open correctional unit for veterans

March 24, 2016 - Gov. Charlie Baker joined Middlesex Sheriff Peter Koutoujian to formally open the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office Housing Unit for Military Veterans — the Commonwealth’s first correctional unit specifically designed for incarcerated veterans.

New Massachusetts documentary 'Beyond the Wall' shows ex-convicts' struggles

March 19, 2016 - When you get to prison, you get a handbook on how to act in prison. When you get released, you don't get a handbook on how to live life.

Sheriff Koutoujian Serves as Co-Chair of 2016 Massachusetts White Ribbon Day Campaign

March 6, 2016 - Campaign focuses on is focused on shifting the understanding of what it means to be a man in today’s world.

Sheriffs Support Senators' Call to Maintain Pretrial Health Care Coverage

February 10, 2016 - Middlesex County Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian attended an event in Washington D.C. with Massachusetts Senator Edward Markey on Tuesday.

Middlesex County sheriff wants inmates to keep Medicaid

February 9, 2016 - Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian called Tuesday for a change in federal policy to make sure people on Medicaid can keep their benefits should they be held in jail awaiting trial and, if convicted, be able to restart those benefits upon release.

Female inmates to be eligible for Middlesex sheriff's opioid recovery program

February 4, 2016 - Women leaving MCI-Framingham will soon be eligible to participate in the Middlesex County Sheriff's office's MATADOR opioid recovery program.

Regional lockup facility bill passes hurdle

February 3, 2016 - When a small police department makes an arrest, it can put a stress on manpower and financial resources. The answer to those problems, Middlesex County Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian said, is the creation of regional lockup facilities run by the sheriff’s offices.

Billerica man sentenced for attack on correctional officers

January 23, 2016 - A Billerica man was convicted Thursday of assaulting two correctional officers last July at the Middlesex Jail and House of Correction and sentenced to more time behind bars for the attacks, authorities said.

Koutoujian Tackles Social Ills in Prisons; Sheriff Addresses Opioid Addiction Among Inmates

January 14, 2016 - Peter Koutoujian is one of the best known Armenian politicians in Massachusetts, and appears more and more as a spokesman for Armenians on a national level. He has been playing an important role in the field of law enforcement as sheriff of Middlesex County, and is often involved in policy discussions statewide. In a recent interview, Koutoujian spoke about some key aspects of his work.

Wicked Sober founder visits Middlesex Jail & House of Correction

January 14, 2016 - Wicked Sober founder Mike Duggan visited the Middlesex Jail & House of Correction on Dec. 14 as part of the new Monday Moments Speaker Series. Duggan discussed his own battle with addiction with approximately 60 inmates as part of Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian’s new speaker series.

Drug Offender License Bill Sails Through Mass. House

January 6, 2016 - After a unanimous vote in the House on Wednesday, both branches of the Legislature have approved a bill repealing a 1989 law that automatically suspended the driver’s licenses for drug offenders whose crimes had nothing to do with operating a motor vehicle.

Sheriff Koutoujian Commends President's Actions To Address Gun Violence

January 6, 2016 - "I encourage Congress to support the President’s proposal to hire an additional 200 ATF agents," said the Middlesex County Sheriff.

Sheriff Koutoujian to serve as White Ribbon Day Campaign co-chair

Sheriff Peter Koutoujian will serve as co-chair of the 2016 White Ribbon Day Campaign to highlight the role men have as fathers, sons, brothers, friends and mentors in ending violence against women.

Anti-sexual assault activists host White Ribbon Day in MA

Activists working to stop sexual assault and domestic violence are hoping to recast what it means to be a man. The anti-domestic violence group Jane Doe Inc. is launching its 8th Annual Massachusetts White Ribbon Day Campaign on Tuesday.

Sheriff Koutoujian takes part in national summit

Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian recently joined current and former public safety leaders, White House officials, mayors and members of the faith community for a summit on criminal justice reform and reentry solutions.

Sheriffs want to use asset money to fight crimes against children

Law enforcement agencies would be able to seize and sell assets used in the commission of crimes related to child pornography or enticement in the same way they are able to do so for drug-related crimes, under a bill supported by some of the state's sheriffs.

Middlesex Sheriff’s Office Launches Monday Moments Speaker Series

Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian has launched a new program designed to provide inmates battling addiction an opportunity to hear from community members about the effects of substance abuse on families, careers and communities.

Law enforcement teams with Realtors on pill problem

To get high, people may abuse prescription pills a doctor legally prescribed to them or that they got from a friend or took from a family member. But sometimes, law enforcement authorities say, addicts hit up a less likely place to look for drugs: Real estate open houses.

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian among those supporting governor's opiates bill

More than half of the state's sheriffs Nov. 9 threw their support behind Gov. Charlie Baker's substance abuse prevention legislation, saying that what they see at their correctional facilities proves the state's ongoing opioid epidemic is an issue that "desperately needs attention."

State Leaders Announce Working Group for Review Commonwealth's Criminal Justice System

State leaders Wednesday, Oct. 28 serving as the Steering Committee for an independent review of Massachusetts criminal justice system, formally announced a 25-member bipartisan Working Group to partner with the Council of State Government’s Justice Center to explore opportunities for policy consensus and reform.

Bold actions urged at opiate-addiction talk

It will take a paradigm shift in public policy to stem the death toll from opiate addiction, including implementing legislation that has sometimes proven controversial among health-care providers, Gov. Charlie Baker said Monday night at a forum hosted by the Edward M. Kennedy Institute for the U.S. Senate.

Editorial: Police, prosecutors speak up for justice reform

An important voice has been added to the national debate over mass incarceration and criminal justice reform: that of local law enforcement. Last week, 130 police chiefs, district attorneys and other law enforcement professionals gathered in Washington to announce the formation of Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime and Incarceration. Their mission statement challenges the assumption, adopted through decades of “tough on crime” laws and policies, that more punishment equals less crime.

Mass. officials join police group opposing incarceration rate

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian is part of a group of law enforcement leaders from across the nation who are calling for a reduction in the nation’s incarceration rate. Koutoujian is a member of Law Enforcement Leaders to Reduce Crime & Incarceration. The group says it has more than 130 members.

Sheriff Koutoujian Testifies in Support of Regional Lockup Legislation

Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian, Arlington Police Chief Fred Ryan and Bedford Police Chief Robert Bongiorno testified Oct. 14, in favor of legislation allowing county sheriffs to establish regional lockup facilities.

Healey, Koutoujian: A license to start a new life

Samuel was arrested when he was 17-years-old on a marijuana offense – his first and only conviction. Now, Samuel is 21 and has to wait another year and pay $500 to get his driver’s license back.

Officials reconsidering license suspensions for drug offenders

Law enforcement is coalescing around proposed legislation to repeal a law that mandates the automatic suspension of someone's driver's license if they are convicted of a drug offense, regardless of whether the crime involved the operation of motor vehicle.

Jail Mass unlocks one of Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley’s virtues

By Peter Gelzinis - Boston Herald - March 13, 2013
On the day when Cardinal Sean P. O’Malley entered the splendor of the Sistine Chapel to cast his first ballot for the next pope, the sheriff of Middlesex County, Peter Koutoujian, recalled a day back in September when O’Malley held Mass in a far different chapel.

Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian Visits with Newton Rotary

by Melanie Graham - Newton Patch - March 5, 2013
Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian made a stop in Newton last week to speak with the Newton Rotary Club about his role as sheriff and the programs his office provides to the community.

Middlesex Sheriff hosts a restaurant CEO

Wicked Local Wilmington - March 1, 2013
Middlesex Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian welcomed Legal Sea Foods CEO and President Roger Berkowitz for a tour of the Middlesex House of Correction in Billerica earlier this month.

Mass. residents join in on gun control conversation

by Alysha Palumbo - NECN - January 16, 2013
"The data is just overwhelming, these guns are not protecting us," said Harvard University Public Health Professor Dr. David Hemenway.

35th Middlesex Sheriff's Office Training Academy Graduation

Somerville News - July 12, 2012
Sheriff Peter J. Koutoujian welcomed 53 new officers to the Middlesex Sheriff’s Office in a ceremony at the University of Massachusetts Lowell.

Sheriff Koutoujian calls first year a success

by Nell Escobar Coakley - Wicked Local Newspapers - January 31, 2012
When most people transition into a new job, it takes awhile before they’re comfortable making big changes or taking on innovative projects. Peter Koutoujian didn’t wait.

Middlesex House of Correction program transforms inmates into chefs

by Brenda Boute - Boston Globe - October 27, 2011
Martin McLaughlin has spent the past 31 months largely confined to a cell, locked up on a gun charge. The 23-year-old Malden man has had a lot of time to think about the mistakes that led him to a barren bunk in the Middlesex House of Correction.

Truth in research

by Frank Mazzaglia - MetroWest Daily News - July 3, 2011
Benjamin Mendelsohn, the acknowledged "Father of Victimology" never met Middlesex County Sheriff Peter Koutoujian, but they have a lot in common. To begin with, they were both lawyers. More than that, they both believed in the value of research.

Q&A with Sheriff Koutoujian

by Carla Agostino - Lexington Minuteman - February 8, 2011

Letter to the Editor: In praise of Peter Koutoujian

by Richard Najarian - Waltham News Tribune - February 7, 2011