NCJ Number
120011
Date Published
1989
Length
222 pages
Annotation
This document reviews the standards for police cadet training in Massachusetts and sets forth recommendations for improvements.
Abstract
In the wake of a medical report indicating that a class at the Agawam Police Academy had experienced widespread kidney problems, a group of people from the fields of law enforcement, medicine, and physical fitness reviewed standards for police cadet training. Some of the issues reviewed were: pre-selection medical testing and evaluation, fitness standards for admission to the academies, academy orientation and indoctrination, physical fitness curriculum, "modified stress environment" of the police academies, and requirements for academy staff qualifications. Recommendations included tightening medical and physical screening requirements as part of the police cadet selection process, improving physical fitness and reducing health risks during physical training, and creating a more appropriate environment for the training program, including the elimination of the use of physical exercise as punishment. Appendix.