Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:

SECTION 1. Section 1 of chapter 269 of the General Laws, as appearing in the 2002 Official Edition, is hereby amended by adding the following sentence:- For the purposes of this section, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst shall be considered to be a town.

SECTION 2. Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the University of Massachusetts at Amherst may enter into an agreement with the town of Amherst, another town, or a city, or other towns and cities, including towns and cities in states contiguous to the commonwealth, to provide mutual aid programs for police departments to increase the capability of such departments to protect the lives, safety, and property of the people in the area designated in the agreement. The agreement may include the furnishing of personal services, supplies, materials, contractual services, and equipment when the resources normally available to the University or any municipality in the agreement are not sufficient to cope with a situation which requires police action. When providing such mutual aid, police officers shall have all the immunities and powers granted to them by the University or the municipalities that employs them including, but not limited to, powers of arrest.