“Here is where you want to correct the mistakes, because mistakes on the job can cost lives,’’ said Captain David Otte, the lead drill instructor on campus.
There are 208 trainees here, the largest class ever, and they are being trained unlike any before them. Six years have passed since there last was a class, and in that time, officials say, the duties of the trooper have expanded. Keeping an eye out for terrorism mixes with virtually every part of the job. In cities like Brockton, troopers are called on to help quell nagging gang violence. And in some rural towns, they are the sole police force, officials said.
Cadets now face 75 training scenarios. Prior classes went through four.
Colonel Marian McGovern, the State Police superintendent, said in an interview at the academy that troopers are increasingly being called on to meet new demands.
“The state is moving toward casinos, for example, so we’ll have a very big role there, in developing a unit that would focus on that.’’
The dramatic increase in the number of training scenarios arose, ironically, during those six years in which a lean state budget did not allow for the funding of additional state troopers. The campus did not sit dormant during that time, as it was used to train municipal police, college police, and other law enforcement officers from throughout the state. State Police officials took notice of the tactics and procedures used by the Municipal Police Training Committee, which regulates training for municipal police.
“We’re taking their best practices and applied them to our own practices, and that’s how we got to seventy-five,’’ said Sergeant Mike Lyver, the director of training.
The current class started Oct. 17. The training academy runs 21 weeks, and graduation is set for March 9 at the DCU Center in Worcester. The 75 scenarios are presented from week 14 to 19, with 15 stations each day.
