Tag: Police Training

Audit of the Municipal Police Training Committee

Executive Summary
In accordance with Section 12 of Chapter 11 of the Massachusetts General Laws, the Office of the State Auditor has conducted a performance audit of the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC) for the period January 1, 2021 through December 31, 2022.

The purpose of our audit was to determine the following:

whether MPTC developed and implemented the trainings required by Chapter 69 of the Acts of 2018 (also known as the Criminal Justice Reform Act) and Chapter 253 of the Acts of 2020 (also known as the Police Reform Law), which are codified in Sections 116 A–D and G–K of Chapter 6 of the General Laws;
whether MPTC ensured that all MPTC-operated and MPTC-authorized training academies delivered a standardized training curriculum as required by Section 4(f)(1) of Chapter 6E of the General Laws; and
whether MPTC processed permanent exemptions to, and temporary waivers of, training requirements in accordance with Section 3.03 of Title 550 of the Code of Massachusetts Regulations.
— Read on www.mass.gov/audit/audit-of-the-municipal-police-training-committee

State and Local Law Enforcement Training Academies and Recruits, 2022 – Statistical Tables | Bureau of Justice Statistics

Description
This report describes the number and types of law enforcement training academies in the United States in 2022, and it presents findings on the characteristics of recruits and training outcomes. Findings in the report are based primarily on the 2022 Census of Law Enforcement Training Academies (CLETA), the fifth iteration of the data collection.
Conducted periodically since 2002, CLETA collects information from training academies that are responsible for administering mandatory basic training to newly appointed or elected law enforcement officers on recruits, staff, training curricula, equipment, and facilities. These academies are operated by state, regional, county, and municipal agencies and by universities, colleges, and technical schools. Academies that provide only in-service training are excluded from CLETA.
— Read on bjs.ojp.gov/library/publications/state-and-local-law-enforcement-training-academies-and-recruits-2022

Taser And Social, Ethnic and Racial Disparities research programme

News report

Key findings from the research suggest:

  • There is a statistical relationship between ethnicity and increased use of Taser relative to other uses of force in some areas. This is mediated by other factors such as mental ill health, but police routine data collection needs to improve to properly understand these patterns;
  • The disproportionate use of Taser across different communities and populations stems from complex interactions between multiple factors, structures, and processes, both within and external to policing;
  • Policing takes place within a society fractured by inequality and structural racism in that Black and other ethnic minority populations are more likely than White people to live in areas of deprivation;
  • A combination of institutional priorities, policies, practices, and demands mean that policing is concentrated into areas of deprivation, which in turn disproportionately impacts on people from Black and ethnic minority backgrounds relative to the White population;
  • Given that police are more active in deprived neighbourhoods, this in turn makes Taser use in those areas more likely;
  • Taser has become institutionalised as an organisational level response to perceived threat and risk, which increases its use in situations that previously have been resolved in other ways, such as through dialogue;
  • Police officers count Taser among the least dangerous use of force options available to them, and risks associated with its use are under emphasised during training. Insufficient time is dedicated to discussions of ethnic disproportionality and de-escalation during Taser training, which risks creating a further push towards the use of the weapon;
  • In contrast, affected communities experience Taser as a dehumanising and potentially lethal weapon. They also emphasised the psychological harms and racialised traumas generated through use of the weapon;
  • Public scrutiny mechanisms designed to hold police officers to account lack adequate support.

See the report here:

www.ucl.ac.uk/security-crime-science/sites/security_crime_science/files/taserd_report_13_dec_2023.pdf