The Massachusetts State Police Academy will postpone training of new recruits until it puts in place urgent reforms to correct problems with its management, culture and safety that led to the death of one trainee, its leaders said this week.
The changes, recommended in an independent report that was released on Wednesday after a yearlong investigation, will include new training for instructors, better tracking of injuries and the hiring of a civilian training director.
The outside review was requested by Gov. Maura Healey after a state police trainee, 25-year-old Enrique Delgado Garcia, died two years ago from injuries he suffered in a boxing match at the academy.
Leaders of the academy said on Tuesday that they would spend the next five years overhauling its culture and curriculum, guided by the report’s recommendations.
Col. Geoffrey Noble, the head of the Massachusetts State Police, said that the start of the academy’s next session, previously set for June, would be postponed until 22 of the most urgent recommendations in the report could be instituted, a process expected to take several months.
Over the next several years, all 100 of the report’s recommendations will be adopted, Colonel Noble said. He said the state would pay an outside entity to monitor the institution’s progress toward “a safety first culture.”
“That is a proper recommendation, to ensure that I as a colonel, and we as an agency, are held accountable,” Colonel Noble said as he faced a roomful of reporters at a briefing on Tuesday at state police headquarters in Framingham, Mass. “That’s the way it should be.”
The state paid nearly $600,000 for the independent examination of the academy, which was conducted by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, a nonprofit based in Alexandria, Va. The report does not specifically address the circumstances of Mr. Delgado Garcia’s death, which remains under investigation. A police academy supervisor and three instructors have been charged with involuntary manslaughter.
The report does, however, broadly address the use of boxing and other types of “stress exposure” traditionally used to prepare police recruits for chaotic, uncontrolled situations. The authors called stress exposure “a legitimate component” of police training, but found that the Massachusetts academy relied too heavily on “punitive stress practices that are not consistently tied to defined learning objectives.”
They also found other types of “excessive and unregulated” training that increased recruits’ risk of injury, including “high-volume” running, unscheduled drills, and extra drills imposed as discipline. Injuries are prevalent, they found, but within the academy’s culture, their reporting is discouraged.
“Observed practices raise concerns regarding physical safety, psychological well-being, and effective skill acquisition,” the report found, adding that the current training model “reflects a tension between tradition and modern policing expectations.”
Boxing matches between police recruits were once a common practice at police academies across the country, seen as a way to test recruits’ response to stress. The matches were suspended at the Massachusetts academy after the death of Mr. Delgado Garcia, and will not return, Colonel Noble said.
Elsewhere in New England, boxing was phased out of police training regimens in Maine, New Hampshire and Vermont decades ago, officials in those states said. It remains a part of the curriculum in Rhode Island.
Mr. Delgado Garcia had complained of concussion-like symptoms after an informal, unsanctioned sparring session the day before the formal match where he sustained his fatal injuries, according to court documents. But no one had checked on his condition the next morning, or consulted the medical staff, before he fought again.
In the fight the next day, he was hit repeatedly on the head until he lost consciousness and was taken by ambulance to a hospital. He died a day later.
Recommendations in the report include improved screening and tracking of recruits’ physical and mental health, routine evaluations of trauma history, better injury prevention education, and clearer protocols for handling training-related injuries. The report also advises the elimination of unsanctioned training exercises.
Additional recommendations include hiring civilian staff members to boost institutional stability and specialized expertise, and fostering a more positive view of academy jobs within the agency’s ranks.
Scrutiny of state police culture in Massachusetts in recent years has not been limited to its academy. In two separate trials last year, juries found that the agency had discriminated against women and minorities, awarding $6.8 million to five plaintiffs in one case and $11 million in another.
The lead investigator in the high-profile Karen Read murder trial in Massachusetts, a state police trooper, was fired last year for sending vulgar, sexist text messages about Ms. Read, a lapse that compromised the state’s case against her.
Governor Healey hired Colonel Noble, the first outsider to lead the state police, in 2024, a move seen as a bid to restore public trust and address systemic dysfunction.
Jenna Russell is the lead reporter covering New England for The Times. She is based near Boston.
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