Among the changes announced this week by the Massachusetts State Police to its training academy after a recruit's death last year, an outside agency will assess the curriculum and methods for safety and effectiveness.
State police recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia died in September after being badly injured during a boxing training exercise at the academy. The department outlined a series of reforms Thursday.
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WATCH HEREAccording to documents obtained by NBC10 Boston Investigators, three agencies submitted bids to take on a comprehensive review of the Massachusetts State Police Academy: The Bowman Group, a law enforcement consulting firm led by a former Texas Police Chief; National Policing Institute, a policing research non-profit headquartered in Virginia; and the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a professional association of police leaders also based in Virginia.
Col. Geoffrey Noble said a team of state police leaders leaders evaluated the bids and chose to commission the IACP.
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SIGN UP "Personally, I have a tremendous amount of respect for the IACP. They represent an international body of law enforcement executives. The executive team at IACP, I know and I have confidence in, believes in the ideals of what, and they're very much aligned with what the Massachusetts State Police ideals are based on our training of future troopers who operate with integrity and compassion and embody the very best of the best," said Noble. "I was also very impressed with the IACP's team. They've assembled a very diverse, robust team of assessors from around the country, all of which have different backgrounds, but all of which had very demonstrated high-level experience in training standards and creating and modifying and then implementing the best national training standards in the police training environment. So, for those reasons, I'm very confident and very pleased that we have picked IACP."
In its bid, the IACP pointed to nearly a dozen examples of similar work it has done in recent years, including an assessment of the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department Training Academy with an emphasis on improving the potential of recruits to successfully complete the academy, the identification and implementation of best practices in academy operations, and an assessment of the overall culture and climate of the academy.
That assessment resulted in 110 recommendations.
The IACP's key team members include several veterans of local and state police from across the country.
The bid lists Kathleen O'Toole as a senior advisor. She began her career as an officer with the Boston Police Department before serving as lieutenant colonel overseeing special operations in the Massachusetts State Police. She was later appointed Massachusetts Secretary of Public Safety and became the first female Boston police commissioner.
The IACP team also includes consultants with professional backgrounds in human resources, physical therapy.
The proposed plan aims to evaluate curriculum and training methods, analyze attrition rates, examine injury prevention and fitness standards, evaluate organizational culture and leadership, and determine how the academy aligns with national best practices.
The timeline indicates work was set to begin in April with data requests from MSP and surveys, followed by site visits with the start of the new academy class in May and June, with a report finalized and submitted in September.
The cost of this assessment is $599,100, according to state police.
State Sen. Robyn Kennedy was among lawmakers who sent a letter to Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell earlier this year asking for an update on the investigation into the death of Enrique Delgado-Garcia. She said these changes are a step in the right direction.
"We were hopeful that the state police would and will continue to examine their practices within the academy and make changes to national best practices," said Kennedy. "I do want to stress, though, that there's two pieces to this. There's the changes that need to be made at the academy. We're also expecting answers to what happened to Enrique. We're looking forward to that investigation continuing and coming to a close."
Campbell named an outside investigator, attorney David Meier, to lead an independent investigation into Delgado-Garcia's death. The Worcester County District Attorney's Office said it would not conduct the investigation because Delgado-Garcia had worked there as a victim witness advocate.
