BOSTON - Senator Michael O. Moore (D-Millbury) announced that the Senate passed legislation to create a dedicated revenue source for the Commonwealth’s municipal police training committee. The bill will fund critical needs for police training.
Throughout the current legislative session, the Senate has led the effort to create dedicated funding for this critical public safety need by including this legislation as amendments in the Senate’s version of the Fiscal Year 2018 supplemental budget and the Senate’s version of the Fiscal Year 2019 budget.
“As the Senate Chair of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Homeland Security, I am particularly pleased that the Legislature took action to support a dedicated revenue source for the municipal police training fund,” said Senator Moore. “Ensuring that local law enforcement is adequately trained is paramount to safe communities. Given the fiscal constraints faced by municipalities, having a dedicated funding source for police training will help alleviate some of that burden.”
The legislation calls for up to $10 million in annual revenue for training that will be provided by adding a $2 fee per rental car transaction in the Commonwealth. The legislation also allows for three other additional sources of revenue to be used for the fund: money from the Marijuana Regulation Fund; legislative appropriations designated to the municipal police training fund; and revenue from private sources such as grants, gifts and donations.
The dedicated funding stream will allow the Municipal Police Training Committee to maintain critical services and expand training, including:
- First Aid/CPR in-service training
- First-line supervision training
- Field training
- More sexual assault investigator training
- First-line supervision leadership training
- School Resource Officer training
- Fair and impartial policing, procedural justice and, implicit bias training
- Instructor trainer courses: including Firearms, Defensive Tactics; First Aid/CPR; Health and Wellness
This funding, when fully implemented, will allow the Municipal Police Training Committee to administer ample resources to effectively reduce or altogether eliminate the costs municipalities currently incur for recruit training.