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March 28, 2024 Mist | 46°F
The 193rd General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts

Section 116: Municipal police training committee; members; chairperson; executive director

Section 116. There shall be a municipal police training committee within the executive office of public safety. Members of said committee shall be as follows: 5 chiefs of police to be appointed by the governor from nominations submitted by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association Incorporated, 1 of whom shall be from the western Massachusetts region, 1 of whom shall be from the central Massachusetts region, 1 of whom shall be from the southeastern Massachusetts region, 1 of whom shall be from the northeastern Massachusetts region and 1 of whom shall be from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority; 1 chief of police selected by the Massachusetts Chiefs of Police Association Incorporated; 1 police officer to be appointed by the governor from nominations submitted by the Massachusetts Police Association, Inc. executive board and the Massachusetts Police Training Officers Association, Inc. executive board; 2 sheriffs to be appointed by the governor; the chair of the Massachusetts Association of Minority Law Enforcement Officers, Inc.; the president of the Massachusetts Association of Women in Law Enforcement, Inc.; the commissioner of police of the city of Boston; the colonel of state police; the attorney general; and 1 person to be designated by the secretary of public safety and security; or their respective designees. All such appointments shall be for terms of 3 years with their successors appointed in a like manner.

The following persons, or their designees, shall be advisory, nonvoting members of the committee: the personnel administrator; the commissioner of correction; the commissioner of youth services; the commissioner of probation; the chair of the parole board; the executive director of the committee on criminal justice; the chief justice of the trial court of the commonwealth; the chief justice of the district court department; the secretary of education; the chair of the criminal law committee of the Massachusetts Bar Association; and the special agent in charge of the Boston office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, if consent is given by the director of the bureau. The governor shall appoint 6 additional advisory, nonvoting members of the committee, 1 of whom shall be an administrator of a city or town, 1 of whom shall be a clerk of the superior court, 1 of whom shall be a member of the committee for public counsel services, 1 of whom shall be a social worker, 1 of whom shall be a mental health clinician and 1 of whom shall be a district attorney of a district, or their respective designees.

The committee shall elect a chair annually and shall, as needed, provide nominations for the selection of an executive director to the secretary of public safety and security. The secretary shall select an executive director from the nominations submitted by the committee. The position of executive director shall be classified in accordance with section 45 of chapter 30 and the salary shall be determined in accordance with section 46C of said chapter 30.

The committee shall set policies and standards for the training of the following, in accordance with applicable laws and regulations, including the training mandated by this chapter, section 36C of chapter 40, sections 96B and 97B of chapter 41 and section 24M of chapter 90:

(i) municipal police officers and candidates for such appointment;

(ii) Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority transit police officers, and candidates for such appointment;

(iii) police officers of the department of law enforcement within the executive office of environmental affairs, and candidates for such appointment;

(iv) University of Massachusetts police officers, and candidates for such appointment;

(v) Campus police officers attending committee-approved academies or training programs; and

(vi) deputy sheriffs, appointed pursuant to section 3 of chapter 37, performing police duties and functions.

The committee shall set policies and standards for the screening of all applicants for admission to committee-certified academies. The committee shall set policies and standards for background investigations for all persons appointed to committee-certified academies and initial appointments of those persons, which investigations shall require at a minimum verification against the national decertification index or the database of decertified law enforcement officers maintained by the Massachusetts peace officer standards and training commission established in section 2 of chapter 6E.

The committee and the division of police certification established in section 4 of chapter 6E shall jointly establish minimum certification standards for all officers, pursuant to section 4 of chapter 6E.

The committee, and the Massachusetts peace officer standards and training commission established in section 2 of chapter 6E, shall jointly promulgate rules and regulations for the use of force by law enforcement officers consistent with sections 14 and 15 of chapter 6E.

The committee shall maintain records of training for all officers for whom the committee sets policies and standards for training, issue confirmation of satisfactory completion of training, and provide for extensions or waivers of training requirements for good cause and maintain records of any such extension or waiver and the reason. The committee shall provide records of completion of training to the Massachusetts peace officer standards and training commission established in section 2 of chapter 6E.

The committee shall coordinate with the center for responsive training in crisis intervention established pursuant to section 25 of chapter 19 on all behavioral health-related training.

The committee shall identify training requirements and develop guidance for meeting those requirements through trainings provided by the committee or other independent educational entities.

The committee shall review and recommend to the secretary of public safety and security an annual appropriation for the administration of the committee, as well as for the operations of a headquarters and regional training centers, and for the delivery of standardized training at the centers.

The committee may promulgate regulations pursuant to chapter 30A as necessary to implement sections 116 to 118, inclusive.