PAX Centurion - Winter 2016 - 2017

Page 38 • PAX CENTURION • Winter 2016-2017 617-989-BPPA (2772) By P.O. William Shaw & P.O. James Lydon, Boston Police Academy Academy Corner W e have had a busy and productive fall at theAcademy. We were actually under the gun to accomplish several tasks so we can give our full attention the upcoming recruit class, which will be starting at the beginning of December. The 2016 version of in-service was a huge accomplishment. Between September and November, we had 1,343 police officers and supervisors attend a one-day, in-service course. This program included classes about police response to people with mental illness, defensive tactics / de-escalation, and a presentation by the peer support unit. We feel that this training is ahead of the curve in regard to contemporary law enforcement training, and it was well received by our brother and sister officers. We also took a lead role in crowd control training. The academy staff, led by Police Officer Janet Lewis and Police Officer LeRoy Streat, worked with Sergeant Frank Flynn, Sergeant Detective Gary Eblan, and Sergeant Brian Mahoney to train 1,202 officers on all three shifts. This task was accomplished over a nine-week period at the Dorchester Armory on Victory Road. Congratulations and good luck to eight new sergeants: Dana Barrett, Christopher Carroll, WilliamHasson, Daniel Pusey, Joey Tse, Philip Bissonnette, Michael Brown, and JustinWood. These new sergeants participated in the 14 th Supervisor’s Advanced Leadership Training. SALT Class #14-16 ran from October 10 th to November 4 th at the academy. The classes the new sergeants took involved subjects including, but not limited to, show up / bring back practices, crime scenes, licensed premises, and defensive tactics / de- escalation. This training was conducted by the academy staff as well as many other adjunct instructors from throughout the department. Good luck on your new assignments! From November 7 th to December 2 nd , we had Detective Formative Training for twelve new, or soon to be rated, detectives. This was also a four-week training, held at theAcademy by academy staff and adjunct instructors. Detective Formative Training was held to prepare the new detectives for a new sets of skills which will be needed at their new assignments. There were classes in forensics, fingerprinting, crime scenes, interviews and interrogation, and warrant preparation. Classroom instruction was combined with scenario based, hands-on training in this course coordinated by academy staff member Detective Jeremiah Benton. New detectives will be much better prepared for their new assignments than in years past. Good luck on your new assignments, as well! We were, and still are, very active in producing significant law enforcement training for the region. For the past two years, we have had a substantial number of recruits from cities and towns in Eastern Massachusetts. We also provided in-service training for departments outside of the BPD. We hosted a two-day Street Survival seminar for 135 officers from throughout New England. In November, we also had a three-day course for sexual assault investigators from Boston and throughout the region. We held a two-day training for state investigators from several fields from the Massachusetts Department of Public Safety. One of the most unusual trainings we have done was for the local chapter of the Young President’s Organization. This is an international organization of young corporate executives and CEOs. These young corporate executives were interested in hearing about police training in an academy setting. It was an unusual crowd for us and we were surprised by the great interaction between the staff and the Young Presidents. The best part was they bought lunch! On October 31 st , the first annual Boston PoliceAcademy Halloween Trick-or-Treat was held. This event was coordinated by Police Officer Sophia Vega-Jones and strongly supported by Superintendent Lisa Holmes and several other volunteers. The academy front door and the first floor were decorated by the staff. The candy and decorations were provided by donations from the staff and a generous donation by the PoliceAthletic League. Over 100 neighborhood kids came by to make the event a huge success. It was a nice way to give a little back to a neighborhood that puts up with noisy recruit physical training at 7:30am and congested streets created by our overflowing parking lot. On November 14 th , 42 new cadets joined us for three weeks of training. They were sworn in on November 16 th by the commissioner and the mayor, and they will be graduating at the end of November. This is the first cadet class since 2009 and, after graduation, they will be providing much needed help for the districts and for headquarters. The cadets were from neighborhoods all over the city. Hopefully, in two to five years, they will become new police officers for the BPD. Well, after accomplishing all this we have cleared our plate for Recruit Class #56-16. On December 5 th , 80 to 85 Boston recruits and sixteen recruits from outside departments will begin training. The anticipated graduation date will be sometime in late June. From the entire academy staff, we wish all of our brother and sister law enforcement officers a Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays, and a Happy – and SAFE – NewYear! Detective Training