Police Officer Standards and Training Council

At a Glance

SUSAN E. RAINVILLE, Acting Executive Director

Established - 1965

Statutory authority – CGS Section 7-294a-x

Central office - Connecticut Police Academy,

285 Preston Avenue, Meriden, CT 06450

Number of employees - 25

Recurring operating expenses - $2,479,449.46

Organizational structure - Office of the Executive Director; Basic Training Division; Field Services Training Division; Management Services Division and Certification Division.

Mission

The Police Officer Standards and Training Council has a dual mission. First, it is committed to providing innovative, credible and responsive high quality basic, advanced and specialized training to Connecticut police officers in an economical manner and in amounts sufficient to enable them to acquire the knowledge and skills necessary to serve the public with commitment, empathy and competence.

The Police Officer Standards and Training Council is also committed to adopting and enforcing professional standards for certification and for decertification of Connecticut’s police officers, in a manner consistent with the law, considerate of the regulated community and uncompromising as to basic values, and ethics.

Statutory Responsibility

Agency responsibilities are to provide basic police and in-service police training and set entry-level educational, licensing and training standards for all non-state police division police officers in the State of Connecticut; accredit training programs offered to police recruits in police academies; control the certification of police instructors; establish procedures for certified review training; oversee and award credit for certified review training of veteran officers and recertify triennially those who qualify; and encourage the growth of professional development, and continuing education programs for police officers. In addition to town and city police, the agency also regulates, and oversees the training of, police personnel from the four police departments of the Connecticut State Universities, the University of Connecticut, the Department of Motor Vehicles, the Department of Environmental Protection Law Enforcement Unit; and numerous other state agency law enforcement units.

Improvements/Achievements 2002-03

The renovation and additions to Connecticut Police Academy have begun, are proceeding rapidly and are due for completion by December of 2003. The renovations and additions are designed to provide additional classroom space, dormitory space, a field house, and running track and to update existing 30-year-old training and administrative space.

The Basic Training Division revised and updated the "Field Training Officer and Evaluation Program" and "Student Manual." There are now 1,134 certified Field Training Officers in the state.

The agency procured and installed a new state-of-the-art "Turning Target System." The new system will provide the range master with more shooting options and flexibility. In addition the system improved range safety and saves cleaning time.

The Field Services Training Division which provides in-service training sponsored 142 course offerings in which 5,682 police officers were trained in executive development, supervisory and management topics, legal update, criminal and accident investigation, drug enforcement techniques, advanced firearms, and other specialized and technical training programs.

The Critical Incident Management training program has been fully implemented and integrated into our core management curriculum. Currently over 500 supervisors have been trained under this management program. Also the mobile Firearms Training System (FATS) is being utilized heavily in the field with 20 police departments using it this training year.

The agency, in conjunction with the Connecticut State Police, Connecticut office of the F.B.I. and the Connecticut Department of Public Safety, Division of Homeland Security, has initiated a series of training seminars on the topic of terrorism. These seminars are a result of a Department of Justice program, State and Local Anti-terrorism training. We have conducted ten of these seminars and have trained 856 officers to date.

The agency has also worked with the Homeland Security and other State agencies to create an exercise working group to build an exercise and training program that will provide exercises and training on WMD events to police officers specifically and to all emergency responders in the State generally.

The agency’s expanded website page, the "Career Opportunities in Law Enforcement" link that aids police agencies in their recruiting processes and the interested public to where to seek information to begin a career in law enforcement has received over 152,000 hits since its inception. Several other pages have been added to the website including a page as a courtesy for qualified candidates seeking positions as a Chief Executive Officer for a law enforcement unit. The Connecticut Police Corps page provides additional recruiting information to full-time college students pursuing baccalaureate degrees. The Connecticut program offers education assistance (scholarships or reimbursement for expenses) on a competitive basis and will give primary consideration to applicants who are college juniors and seniors. Another important page added deals with the Agency's Affirmative Action policies. These include the Affirmative Action Policy Statement, Sexual Harassment Policy, Anti-Harassment Policy, the Drug Free Workplace Policy and the Americans With Disabilities Act.

The agency has conducted physical, on-site audits of 71 of the 175 law enforcement agencies, and all six of the state’s certified training academies that come under the Police Officer Standards and Training Council's standards and requirements. The agency sets professional standards for, and randomly audits compliance of, over 8,000 police officers and six Police Training Academies.

Strategic Planning

The agency's planning function is performed by a Council subcommittee studying the issues and making recommendations to the full Council. That subcommittee's long-term efforts, along with the full Council, at funding a state of the art imaginative and long overdue upgrading and expansion of the Council's Connecticut Police Academy facility in Meriden are coming to fruition. The Governor recommended and the General Assembly approved a $10 million program of new construction and upgrading of the existing facility to meet the law enforcement training challenges of the new millennium.

The members of the Council are: Chief Thomas E. Flaherty, Chairperson, Milford; Chief Douglas L. Dortenzio, Wallingford; Chief Louis J. Fusaro, Sr., Norwich; Chief Robert S. Hudd, University of Connecticut; Chief Edmund H. Mosca, Old Saybrook; Chief Harry W. Rilling, Norwalk; Chief Anthony J. Salvatore, Sr., Cromwell; Chief Thomas J. Sweeney, Glastonbury; Carolyn J. Moffatt, Naugatuck; Carol S. Bryan, Branford; Howard L. Burling, II, Bristol; Kurt P. Cavanaugh, Glastonbury; Thomas P. O’Dea, Jr., Esq., Westport; Dr. Craig A. Zendzian, Southington and Christopher L. Morano, Chief State’s Attorney; Arthur L. Spada, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety and Michael J. Wolf, Special-Agent-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, are ex-officio members.