State police recruits at the Massachusetts State Police Academy in New Braintree practice crowd control drillsRelated links
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NEW BRAINTREE – Noah Clock clutched his brand new pair of boots and beamed a great, big smile.
The shiny pair of size 10 1/2 EEE boots were his first reward for 21 weeks of hard work, toil and sweat.
"It's hard to put into words," he said. "My life-long dream has come true."
Clock, 28, of Palmer, is one of 208 trainees of the Massachusetts State Police Academy who will graduate Friday and will serve on patrol as state troopers.
The graduation ceremony begins at 10 a.m. at the DCU Center in Worcester. Gov. Deval Patrick and Lt. Governor Timothy Murray are expected to be among the speakers at noon. Trainee Sean Kenney, of West Springfield, a National Guard veteran and Bronze Star winner during two tours in Iraq, has been selected to give the class address.
Col. Marian J. McGovern, the head of the Massachusetts State Police, said the class is the first major infusion of troopers in five years.
And with the state police ranks down by some 500 through retirement and attrition over that time, the newest troopers are both welcome and needed, she said.
"You're going to see a lot more troopers on the streets," she said.
At present, there are 2,037 sworn law-enforcement personnel with the state police. The 208 additions will raise that number, but it will still be below the 2,532 troopers needed for the ranks to be at full capacity, she said.
Having more troopers on patrol will increase safety for the general public, and provide additional backup. "Especially in Western Massachusetts, where troopers largely ride alone," she said.
After graduation, the new troopers will be paired with a partner for a three-month orientation. After that, they will assume their first patrol assignments at state police barracks around the state.
Typically, McGovern said, new troopers are assigned to barracks some distance away from what they consider their home.
"Historically, we try to put them away from their homes and friends and people they know," she said.
Clock is going to Russell.
Michael McNally, 29, of Springfield, is going to Shelburne, and he said he can't wait.
A former Springfield police cadet who served in the Marines and was then hired with the Springfield police, McNally left after 10 months when the opportunity to join the state police arose.
"The Massachusetts State Police is the varsity," he said. "That's why I wanted to join."
He said part of the appeal is the width and breadth of assignments in the state police that far exceed what a police officer in most municipalities could see.
More than just sitting by a highway and running radar, the state police have specialty units devoted to urban patrols, detective units and crime analysis, gambling, gangs and drug units and fugitive apprehension. There are also mounted patrols, K-9 units and the Air Wing helicopter patrols.
A police officer with the town of Amherst for four years, Clock jumped at the opportunity to join the state police.
In terms of what state police units he'd like to serve on down the road, Clock said, "I'm open to do pretty much anything. In a small town, you don't have the same opportunity."
The academy this time around was 21-weeks long, which is shorter than previous versions. But it also had more areas of the curriculum, McGovern said.
"We became very good at organizing our time," McGovern said.
In addition to class work, defensive training and physical conditioning, the curriculum also included some 75 scenarios, or role-playing drills of situations troopers could see on the job.
Director of Training, Sgt. Michael Lyver said the scenarios where high-adrenaline, such as a man with a gun in a high school. Others were more routine, like aiding a motorist with a stalled car or catching minors with alcohol.
Sometimes, he said, they would stack them on top of each other, so the recruits have to adjust to going from fast-paced to slow-paced and back again, Lyver said. Just like real state troopers.
Western Massachusetts graduates
Area residents who completed the state police academy and will become state troopers
Stephen A. Bushay, Orange
Noah A. Clock, Palmer
James A. Cook, Westfield
Gregory A. Denys , Goshen
Sérgio Daniel Figueiredo, Ludlow
Thomas S. Fisk, Worthington
Brandon G. Floyd, Ludlow
Douglas P. Grout , Ashland
Steven S. Hean, Gill
Matthew F. Kane, Westfield
Christopher J. Kennedy, West Springfield
Sean M. Kenney, Chicopee
Justin A. Kruszyna, Cheshire
William D. Lambirth, Jr. , Ashland
Christopher M. Lipiec, Athol
Michael J. Lucas, Sr., Petersham
Corey J. Mackey, Westfield
Luis M. Martinez, Springfield
Michael T. McNally, Springfield
Michael J. O'Brien, Northampton
Noah H. Pack, Gill
Jeffrey A. Pelletier, Springfield
Timothy David Pelletier, Palmer
Daren W. Snyder, Dalton
Thomas W. Sullivan, Springfield
Matthew O. Trombley, Westhampton
Christopher Mark Uliana, Belchertown
Information from the state police Office of Public Affairs
"In the classroom, it's all black and white. With the scenario training, it fills in the shades of gray," he said. "We're trying to replicate what a trooper sees out on a day of patrol."
On the day the media was invited to the academy, troopers were on the shooting range practicing drawing their weapon while in civilian clothing, took part in a teamwork exercise that involved scaling rope and wood towers and drilled with their riot gear for the first time.
"Our job is pretty specific," said Sgt. Ronald Legros, the health and fitness coordinator with the academy. "We're responsible to respond to everything the colonel (McGovern) puts out as a public safety emergency."
Having the first academy class in five years meant re-examining parts of the training and physical conditioning programs, Legros said.
Gone were the traditional 10-mile runs; in their place were exercises and drills that stressed what he called "explosive movements."
The training also included a greater emphasis on more hand-to-hand defensive tactics, which Legros said is in response to the recent popularity of mixed martial arts, or MMA, fighting.
"We spent a lot of time on ground offensive training, using your hands, breaking holds and obtaining a dominant position," he said. "If someone takes us to the ground, we've got to be able to get back to our feet."
The average police foot chase, he said is usually between 200 feet and a third of a mile.
"So to train for a 10-mile run doesn't make sense anymore for us," he said.
"We're making them much more explosive athletes, so they can burst into a run, carry it as long as they have to and then be able to deal with a fight on the other end," he said.
Trainee Clock, with the shiny knee-high boots, is asked how well he will be able to run after a fleeing suspect in those things.
"We'll find out," he said.