The comprehensive and intensive 800 hour, 20-week training program qualifies recruits as municipal police officers. The program of instruction is divided between classroom instruction and hands-on training to develop all required knowledge, skills and abilities. The program contains certain structured training aspects designed to build “esprit de corps” and discipline in the new police student officer. The goal of the program is to provide highly motivated, well-trained basic police officers to the departments which serve the Commonwealth.

The 20-week municipal police basic curriculum has 800 hours of training in 45 training modules, such as: Problem Solving, Professional Orientation, Community Policing, Cultural Diversity, Ethics and Integrity, Emergency Medical Services, Communications, Criminal Law and Procedures, Patrol Procedures, Criminal Investigation, Traffic Enforcement, Health and Wellness/Fitness Skills, Firearms Training, Defensive Driving and Field Exercises.

The basic curriculum training program begins with the cities and towns which select their future officers by a variety of means. The MPTC involvement begins with a comprehensive application for training submitted by the requesting agency. The Human Resources Division (HRD) of the Executive Office of Administration and Finance requires each applicant to undergo a complete medical evaluation to ensure that they are physically capable of the rigorous training environment in the academy. Prior to beginning the academy, each applicant must successfully complete an HRD administered Physical Agility Test (PAT) to again ensure their ability to complete the rigors of the academy.

Municipal police recruits in the academy wear a traditional khaki uniform with their respective department patch on one sleeve and the MPTC patch on the other sleeve. Recently, the MPTC operated academies have begun to make use of municipal police officers as Staff Instructors. These outstanding municipal police professionals act as role models and mentors to the new student officers. They serve to guide the new police officers on their path to becoming municipal police professionals.

New and innovative means of training municipal police recruits are continuously being explored and implemented. The integration of community policing issues as well as integrity and ethics training into every module of training has been accomplished. The use of computer “use of force” simulations has become an important part of each academy and will continue to increase in the future. An innovative program of practical evaluation of knowledge, skills and abilities is currently being tested for use in the near future. This program of Applied Patrol Procedures will require recruits to understand what they need to do, why they need to do it and how to practically apply new knowledge and skills in the field.

 

All Sterling Police Officers attend In-Service Training every year.