FOXBORO - Local police have gained traction in a tug-of-war with state police over the power to require and assign police details in town.

"The town has the authority to control and police its roads, including Route 1," Town Manager Andrew Gala said, citing Suffolk Superior Court's dismissal of a suit filed by the state police union.

The court's decision, filed Dec. 24, also orders the troopers' union to pay the town's legal costs in the dispute.

The State Police Association of Massachusetts had asked the court to overturn a police detail bylaw adopted by special town meeting on Dec. 17, 2007. That bylaw authorizes Foxboro's police chief to require police details anywhere in town, including at local businesses and events, to prevent traffic and pedestrian problems.

The state police union filed its suit in August, challenging Attorney General Martha Coakley's approval of the bylaw, and naming the town as a co-defendant. The union's suit claimed that Foxboro's police details bylaw intrudes on state police jursdiction. Town Counsel Paul DeRensis's 12-page argument for dismissal of the suit says state laws governing police jurisdiction were established "to protect the public's health, safety and welfare," and not to "create or protect private claims by employees of entitlement to wage-earning opportunities." As such, DeRensis wrote, the state police union lacks the standing required to challenge the bylaw.

DeResnis argued that the town's bylaw does not interfere with state police jurisdiction to patrol and respond to incidents on Route 1 and other state roads.

The state police union claimed that the bylaw gave Foxboro police the "exclusive" right to assign police details on Route 1 and at events.