Commission: 10G cops must recertify
A state commission on police standards has approved the questions that will soon be asked of thousands of cops as the agency seeks to recertify certain officers ahead of a looming June deadline.
“This applies to all officers currently serving in law enforcement agencies whose last name is ‘A’ through ‘H.’ I need to emphasize that we believe from (Municipal Police Training Committee) figures that that is approximately 10,000 individuals,” Enrique Zuniga, executive director of the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission, said at the group’s Monday meeting.
The commission is charged with creating mandatory certification standards for police officers in the commonwealth.
The act that created the commission, signed into law by Gov. Charlie Baker on New Year’s Eve of 2020, also set a deadline for law enforcement agencies.
“Upon passage, Police Reform granted initial certification to all law enforcement officers. The law also set an expiration date of that certification of June 30, 2022, for officers whose last name begins with A through H. POST is and has been working with law enforcement agencies to meet the requirements of the statute,” Zuniga said.
Zuniga said the commission has reached out to over 400 law enforcement agencies ahead of that deadline.
At Monday’s meeting, members were given the opportunity to voice their thoughts on the questions that will be asked of officers during the recertification process.
Commissioner Larry Calderone, a Boston police officer appointed to the commission by the attorney general, expressed concern at the wording of several of the interview questions.
Calderone noted that several of them asked the officers to disclose information they may not be privy to or were subjective.
Zuniga told Calderone that the questions can be adjusted as things move forward, however the commission went on to accept the questions as written.
Departments will have until June 15 to interview officers with A through H last names and provide their determination as to whether those officers have met the standards for recertification.
Chiefs will have to make a determination as to officer’s fitness for duty. Zuniga said the commission did not know how many would be found unfit, but given the number of officers to be interviewed said they expect some officers to be impacted.