Police Officer Standards and Training Council

At a Glance

THOMAS E. FLAHERTY, Executive Director

Established - 1965

Statutory authority – CGS Section 7-294a-z

Central office - Connecticut Police Academy,

285 Preston Avenue, Meriden, CT 06450

Number of employees - 25

Recurring operating expenses - $2,899,052

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

Mission

The Police Officer Standards and Training Council has a three-fold 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.

Third, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council is charged with developing, adopting and revising a comprehensive accreditation standards program for local law enforcement units, to grant accreditation to those units that demonstrate their compliance with such standards and to conduct assessments to determine such unit’s compliance with such standards.

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 2005-06

The renovation and additions to the Connecticut Police Academy are completed. The renovations and additions were 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 conducted five training sessions graduating 200 recruit officers.

The elective Electronic Defense Weapon training was continued with 89 recruits being certified in their use.

The Division is currently updating the Field Training Program, the Division’s Operating Procedures/Rules & Regulations, and the Basic Recruit Training curriculum with an ultimate goal of gaining “Public Safety Training Academy Accreditation” through the “Commission on Accreditation for Law Enforcement Agencies.”

The Basic Training Division through the use of voluntary training officers from various law enforcement, state, and civic agencies covered approximately 6,000 training hours for a savings of approximately $120,000.

The Division working with the Wilcox State Technical School constructed several wooden structures on the Academy grounds to be used for scenario-based training. The interagency cooperation saved the Academy approximately $830,000 in building costs. There will be additional buildings constructed this year.

The Division is also currently working with the University of Connecticut’s “Long Distance Learning” unit in developing a long distance learning curriculum. As part of that program we have developed a program on two subjects, “Conflict Management” and “Juvenile Law.”

The Field Services Training Division which provides in-service training sponsored 195 course offerings in which 6,180 police officers were trained in executive development, supervisory and management topics, legal update, criminal and crash 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 800 supervisors have been trained under this management program. An introduction to critical incident management procedures has been added to all basic recruit training programs with the instruction provided by a cadre of Connecticut trainers.

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 over 65 of these seminars and have trained 1,943 officers to date.

This agency has also worked closely with the Division of Homeland Security, the Connecticut Police Chiefs Association and the Anti-Defamation League to develop training programs to enhance law enforcement response to terrorist events and to enhance the law enforcement community’s ability to prevent terrorist events, to be funded by the Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Program federal grant.

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 approximately 72,000 hits during this reporting period. 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. In 2005, the entire website merged to the CT-DSF Portal Site. The concept of the portal design ensures ease of use and continuity of the agency website. The “Latest News” feature on the homepage allows for important announcements to be displayed in a timely manner. The In-Service Training Division “Training Courses” page has received approximately 16,000 hits during the reporting period. This page allows officers to view training courses offered by POSTC. 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’s Certification Division has started the second round of onsite audits for compliance of police departments completing 70 this year. Five of the seven POST Council certified satellite academies graduated recruits this year (Hartford, Milford, New Britain, Stamford and Waterbury) along with five classes for the Connecticut Police Academy located in Meriden. During their operation they are monitored by the Certification Division for overall operation and compliance with POST Council’s required curriculum, hours to be completed and certification of instructional staff. The agency sets the professional standards, and randomly audits compliance of 8023 currently certified officers.

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.

Comprehensive Municipal Police Training Plan as Required by Sec. 7-294c

Our training plan includes provisions to train approximately 250 municipal police officers per year at our residential Connecticut Police Academy in five annual classes of 50 students each. We also intend to certify, inspect and audit up to eight satellite police academies around the state which supplement our Meriden academy, primarily sponsored by the larger municipal police agencies in this state.

Additionally, our training plan includes providing and or sponsoring in-service training programs to accommodate approximately 8,000 sworn in-service officers in this state to assist them in complying with our POSTC mandated 60 hour review training cycle every three years.

Furthermore, we are currently in the process of revising our entire recruit training curriculum to reflect developments in police training nationwide and to provide current, comprehensive and meaningful training to our students.

Accounting of Grants, Contributions, Gifts, Donations or Other Financial Assistance as Required by Sec. 7-294c.

This agency has entered into a formal Memorandum of Understanding with the Department of Public Safety and the State Department of Education (Wilcox Technical School, Meriden, Connecticut) to erect a Crime Scene City on the academy grounds at minimal cost. This agency and the Department of Public Safety will share the cost of building materials for such construction and the students from Wilcox Technical School will construct the facilities. Their contribution to the project will be in labor.

Our grant accounting is as follows:

1. Law Enforcement Terrorism Prevention Grant

FY 06-07 – 04/01/06 – 9/30/06, Amount $215,027

2. Police Training On Stop Violence Against Women Grant Program

Grant# VAW931-16, Dates: 4/1/05-6/30/06, Amount $57,000

3. State Accreditation Standards for Local Police Agencies Program

Grant # BF03-7A01YR1, Dates: 10/1/03-12/31/06, Amount $116,228

The agency received no donations during the reporting period, however as a result of the termination of the Connecticut Police Corps, the Police Officer Standards and Training Council voted to authorize this academy to absorb the Connecticut Police Corps inventory of equipment. This equipment will be used at the Connecticut Police Academy, secondly distributed to satellite academies and thirdly to municipal law enforcement agencies in the state that may have a need for such equipment.

The members of the Council are: Chief Anthony J. Salvatore, Sr., Chairperson, Cromwell; Chief Peter A. Agnesi, UConn Health Center; 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 Thomas J. Sweeney, Glastonbury; Mayor Joseph Maturo, Jr., East Haven; First Selectman Russell M. Gray, Sterling; Dr. Amy K. Donahue, West Hartford; Carolyn J. Moffatt, Naugatuck; Howard L. Burling, II, Bristol; Kurt P. Cavanaugh, Glastonbury; Rev. King T. Hayes, South Windsor; James N. Tallberg, Esq., Rocky Hill; and Christopher L. Morano, Chief State’s Attorney; Leonard C. Boyle, Commissioner, Department of Public Safety and Kimberly Mertz, Special-Agent-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, are ex-officio members.