By Colin A. Young
State House News Service

While Massachusetts's influence in Washington could wane with Republican Donald Trump in the White House, at least one state senator expects to be among those making suggestions to the new administration's Department of Justice. Sen. Michael Moore of Millbury, a member of the DOJ's Global Justice Information Sharing Initiative Global Advisory Committee (GAC), spent two days in Washington, D.C., this week working with the GAC on ways to use data to fight the opioid epidemic, combat sex trafficking and improve information sharing. First formed in 1998, the DOJ describes the GAC as "the preeminent voice of state, local, and tribal governments on information sharing matters" and the group provides recommendations to the U.S. Attorney General. "It's a very impressive group that's been assembled to actually look at the full range of information-sharing that's necessary in the law enforcement community and it's not strictly geared towards police, FBI," Moore told the News Service. "It's got the courts, it's got the sheriffs, a whole litany of different groups you might not associate with this. It's a good collaborative of entities and national groups." Part of the GAC meeting this week was focused on the transition to the Trump administration, Moore said, and he expects to continue serving on the GAC after Trump is inaugurated. Moore, who served 22 years on the state Environmental Police and is now Senate vice chair of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, was appointed to the committee over the summer after the National Conference of State Legislatures asked him to lend his experience to the panel as its representative. The group meets once a year, Moore said, but subcommittees operate largely via conference call and email throughout the year. Among the issues Moore said he is working on are policies for automated license plate readers and secure communication channels for law enforcement agencies.