HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3570        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3257

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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PRESENTED BY:

Linda Dean Campbell

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To the Honorable Senate and House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in General
Court assembled:

The undersigned legislators and/or citizens respectfully petition for the adoption of the accompanying bill:

An Act relative to enhancing municipal police training.

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PETITION OF:

HOUSE DOCKET, NO. 3570        FILED ON: 1/20/2017

HOUSE  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  .  No. 3257

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts

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In the One Hundred and Ninetieth General Court
(2017-2018)

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An Act relative to enhancing municipal police training.

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

Chapter 19 of the of the General Laws is hereby amended by inserting after section 24 the following section:-

"Section 25.

(a) For purposes of this section, the following terms shall have the following meanings:-

“Crisis Intervention Team program” is a 40 hour evidence based mental health and substance use crisis response training program for municipal police officers.

(b) The Municipal Police Training Committee (“MPTC”)  shall have as a goal that every municipal police force has 25% of their officers trained in the Crisis Intervention Team program that are available to respond to emergency needs . The MPTC shall accomplish this and the following in collaboration with the department of mental health (“DMH”) and the national alliance on mental illness (“NAMI Mass”).

(c) Subject to appropriation, the first year will include a planning process involving all the above-named parties and chaired by representatives of DMH and MPTC. The purpose of the collaboration shall be to conduct activities in furtherance of its primary mission, which shall include: (i) serving as a clearinghouse for best practices in police response to people with mental illness and substance use disorders; (ii) developing and implementing robust crisis intervention training curricula for all veteran and new recruit municipal police officers; (iii) providing technical assistance to cities and towns to develop collaborative partnerships between law enforcement and human services providers that maximize referrals to treatment services; and (iv) establishing metrics for success and evaluation of outcomes of these programs.

(d) The MPTC will ensure that each training opportunity provides the highest quality evidence-based curriculum, by carrying out the following roles: (i) develop and maintain curriculum that is high quality and up-to-date with the latest research on best practices in community policing; (ii) recruit and support trainers who are professionals working in the fields of criminal justice and behavioral health; (iii) conduct research on effectiveness and best practices of training and other programs; (iv) ensure that trainings are targeted to meet specific local needs of cities and towns and within regions; (v) support police departments in implementing improved behavioral health responses through responsive policies and procedures and partnerships with local resources; and, (vi) provide reimbursement for trainers to ensure recruitment and retention of high quality trainers.

(e) The MPTC will ensure quality and consistency of behavioral health response efforts across the Commonwealth; conduct research and evaluation to establish best practices in the field; and serve as a training and technical assistance resource to other workforces to increase expertise in responding to behavioral health issues, such as the state police, the transit police, campus police, hospital police and security forces, the judiciary, probation, parole, and county and state corrections, subject to appropriation necessary to carry out this subsection.

(f) There shall be an oversight committee for the collaboration between the MPTC, DMH and NAMI Mass. to ensure that the training provides the most recent and highest quality curriculum based on best practices in community policing. The committee shall review annually the curriculum and programming to ensure that trainings are targeted to meet specific local needs of cities and towns and within regions. The Committee shall consist of not less than 5 members, one to be appointed by the Secretary of Health and Human Services, one to be appointed by the Secretary of Public Safety and Security, one to be appointed by NAMI Mass, one to be appointed by the Speaker of the House, one to be appointed by the President of the Senate, and the committee shall be chaired by the member appointed by the Secretary of Public Safety and Security.  

The committee shall provide to the legislature an annual report including: (i) narrative and statistical information about service demand, delivery and cost, and identified service gaps during the prior year; (ii) the effectiveness of the services delivered during the prior year; (iii) review of research analyzed or conducted during the prior year; and (iv) any legislative recommendations deemed necessary to improve the delivery of services. The report shall be submitted by February 1st to the general court by filing it with the clerks of the senate and the house of representatives, the joint committee on mental health and substance abuse, the joint committee on public safety and homeland security, and the senate and the house committees on ways and means.