HAVERHILL — Fifty-one officers, including those from the Newburyport, Salisbury, Amesbury Groveland and West Newbury police departments, graduated from Municipal Police Training Committee Police Academy on Friday, according to state and academy officials.
The graduates successfully completed more than 20 weeks of intensive, standardized training in all aspects of law enforcement and will now serve as full-time officers representing 29 police agencies across Massachusetts.
“The latest MPTC graduating class represents our investment in the future generation of public safety leaders who are well-prepared to protect and serve their communities and advance public safety across the Commonwealth,” said MPTC Executive Director Robert Ferullo (Ret. Police Chief). “I commend their commitment to meeting our statewide professional training standards, which has prepared these officers to provide communities with exceptional policing services by putting into practice the advanced skills, values and principles engrained throughout their training.”
In a graduation ceremony at the NECC Haverhill campus on Friday, members of the fifth recruit officers class took an oath and received their badges for service.
The new officers represented several police departments and agencies, including Amesbury, Berklee College of Music, Beverly, Chelmsford, Dracut, Fitchburg, Fitchburg State University, Gloucester, Groveland, Haverhill, Lawrence, Leominster, Lowell, Malden, Methuen, Newburyport, North Andover, North Shore Community College, Peabody, Revere, Salem, Salisbury, Stoneham, Swampscott, Tewksbury, Tufts University, Wellfleet, West Newbury and Westford.
They join over 400 officers who have graduated from MPTC-operated academies in training year 2023-24.
The recruit officer course provides over 800 hours of course curriculum designed to prepare student officers for the safe and effective performance of their duties. In keeping with mandates established by the landmark 2020 police reform law, the MPTC curriculum includes deescalation training based on new use-of-force policies and regulations.
Student officers also receive uniform training based on best practices related to essential modern-day policing needs, including effective communication skills, victim-centered and trauma-informed incident response, missing persons and human trafficking investigations, mental health-related emergency response, active shooter and hostile event response, patrol duties, and officer safety and wellness.
Upon successful completion of the academy, student officers have met all training requirements to be eligible for Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission certification.
In addition to municipal officers, MPTC ensures the highest training standards for MBTA Police officers, Environmental Police officers, UMass Campus Police officers, campus police officers, and deputy sheriffs performing police duties and functions.