The Massachusetts State Police has hired an independent evaluator to oversee more than 100 reforms at its police academy, which was thrust into the spotlight when a recruit died following an exercise there two years ago.
“Public safety depends on the Massachusetts State Police Academy’s ability to train the next generation of Troopers and prepare them for a fulfilling career in law enforcement,” said Colonel Geoffrey Noble, the MSP superintendent who was hired after the fatal incident. “Recognizing the need for urgent training reform, our team has thoughtfully considered every aspect of the Academy and aligned the curriculum and instructional approach with national best practices.”
The MSP announced Friday that it had hired PFM Group Consulting LLC (PFMGC) as the independent evaluator who will monitor the implementation of 103 reforms recommended in an International Association of Chiefs of Police assessment released earlier this year.
Academy standards and practices were under scrutiny following the death of Enrique Delgado-Garcia, 25, during a boxing training exercise at the New Braintree Academy in September 2024.
Attorney General Andrea Campbell appointed an independent investigator to look into Delgado-Garcia’s death after the Worcester DA’s office recused itself because the recruit had previously worked in their office. The state auditor’s office found the agency failed to ensure all training academies delivered a standardized curriculum.
The IACP assessment found that while the academy met training requirements and “benefits from highly dedicated staff, a strong sense of institutional pride, robust on-site medical capability, and a comprehensive curriculum,” it suffers from “systemic and cultural challenges that significantly affect trainee safety, learning, morale, and retention.”
Among those identified problems are:
— Heavy turnover in command and key staff positions
— A high rate of recruit drop-outs that exceeds both national and peer-state averages
— Overreliance on recruit stress exposure “that are not consistently tied to defined learning objectives”
— Drill instruction “characterized by chaos, humiliation, and limited instructor feedback”
— A lack of formalized instructor development grounded in adult education theory, with particular deficiencies with drill instructors as opposed to subject-matter instructors
— Aging infrastructure marked by “limited classroom capacity, lack of Wi-Fi connectivity, fragmented records systems, and minimal use of analytics” for planning and compliance
“The SPA’s current training model reflects a tension between tradition and modern policing expectations. While discipline, resilience, and esprit de corps remain essential, the prevailing reliance on excessive stress, punitive rituals, and attrition-driven socialization undermines learning outcomes, increases injury risk, and limits the SPA’s ability to adapt to contemporary law enforcement demands,” the May IACP report concluded.
Following that report, the MSP says, Noble delayed the recruit class training period and formed a working group to prioritize implementation of 31 of the most important recommendations “focused on strengthening the Academy’s training curriculum, instructional approach, leadership, trainee wellness, and processes for continuous institutional improvement.”
That group determined that 22 of those priority recommendations, which the MSP says “largely address the immediate training environment and day-to-day Academy practices,” must be made before training was to resume.
“As we finalize plans to begin the class, PFMGC will monitor the implementation of the recommendations, assess outcomes related to attrition, injuries, and performance, and support continuous improvement of the training model through annual reporting over the five-year engagement,” Noble said. “Like the IACP assessment, those documents will be made public and inform all that we do going forward.”
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