Gov. Baker announces changes coming for state police

By Kim Ring
Telegram & Gazette Staff
Posted Jan 16, 2020



NEW BRAINTREE – Legislation filed by Gov. Charlie Baker will allow more swift and harsh punishment for state troopers who don’t live up to their oath, the governor announced Thursday.
The move comes as the department works to improve public trust following scandals involving overtime and detail pay.
Baker, speaking at the State Police Training Facility in New Braintree, said he would file legislation which, if passed, would allow the colonel to hand out unpaid suspensions for serious offenses and allow state agencies to collect damages from troopers who lie about their hours worked in order to collect additional pay.
“The current statutes are out of date and out of step with what is required to run an effective department today,” Baker said, adding that the colonel is unable to enforce accountability under current laws.
During his visit to the training academy, Baker addressed the 252 new recruits who are in their second week of 23 weeks of training. He told the recruits, believed to be among the most diverse group of trainees to ever enter the academy, that providing for public safety is one of the most important things government does.
The recruits are the first class to go through a new type of training using methods set forth by Col. Christopher Mason, who was named to head the department in October. Mason is known for his work investigating the murder of fashion writer Christa Worthington on Cape Cod and prosecution of her garbage collector, Christopher McGowan, in the killing.
The new training Mason has implemented includes an emphasis on ethics, after a scandal in which troopers, some of whom have lost their jobs and been prosecuted, were found to be accepting pay for details they did not work.
The troopers are also learning more about modern policing skills such as empathy, de-escalation, and crisis communication.
Asked about the state police academy’s paramilitary training model, Mason said that, too, will change.
“I believe that there is a role (for paramilitary training),” Mason said. “I think that in the past the paramilitary role has, perhaps, been overemphasized.”
Transitioning into an updated police department will mean carving out some of the time spent on paramilitary skills and shifting that time to training in the more modern skills that address things troopers are likely to face in their career such as dealing with people experiencing a mental health crisis.
But the training will remain rigorous.
“I definitely want to see a shift in the academy attitude. The academy staff here has understood and adopted the vision that I have and we see that playing out here,” he said. “But make no mistake, the state police academy is a difficult academy and we want to be difficult. We want to weed out the people that are here for the wrong reasons. We want people here that are committed to public service.”
Finding those people may be easier after the department adopts a new cadet program that will allow for civilian employees to work for the state police to learn about the job and determine whether they feel a calling to the profession. The department’s Student Trooper program, which allows high school-age pupils to spend a week at the academy for a taste of the skills troopers learn, will remain in place and separate from the cadet program, Mason said.
It was also announced that cameras, both those worn on the trooper’s body and those affixed to their vehicles, will be put in place. In another recent announcement, state police said cruisers will be fitted with GPS systems. 
Mason agreed that public perception is that all police have and use these tools. Having video of an incident can help in prosecuting a case, he said.
The new initiatives are the result of successful negotiations with the State Police Association of Massachusetts, he said.
While he has no plans to retire anytime soon, Mason could be the last colonel to have worked his way through the ranks to the top job under the new legislation.
Baker’s bill will allow for candidates from other agencies to apply for the colonel’s job. Those who would be considered would have 10 or more years in law enforcement and five or more years in a police or military leadership position.
Mason said that while having an institutional knowledge of the state police is a benefit, he agrees with the process and said it’s better to “cast a wider net” for qualified candidates.