The Presque Isle Police Department on officer training: Part II

This is part two of a multipart series. Part two focuses on officer training. Other installments will describe the Uniform Crime Report and what it means for our community and what we as a department are doing to prevent crime and what you can do to help.
    Training – Every police officer begins their career with many ideas of how they will make a difference in their community. They see police officers on TV, in the community and may even know a few of them personally. What they don’t realize, at first, is what is involved in becoming a police officer.
In most cases, they begin with taking the Maine Criminal Justice Academy (MCJA) 100-hour pre-service school. Each police officer in Maine is certified by the academy and must meet training requirements every year – more on that a little later. Before an individual can begin their 100-hour pre-service training, they must undergo a criminal history check and pass the ALERT test.
Basically, these two ‘qualifiers’ determine whether a candidate has the moral and mental aptitude to become a police officer.
The pre-service school is taught by police officers that are certified instructors through the MCJA. The PIPD currently has nine officers who have instructed the pre-service class in the past. This very basic training is taught in a classroom environment and includes topics such as criminal law, motor vehicle law, ethics, crisis management, domestic violence laws, CPR and use of force, to name a very few. Classes range in length of time at the pre-service school. Note taking/study habits and traffic direction/control are each an hour long, whereas criminal law and mechanics of arrest are nine hours each. The class is split into two halves with mid-term and final tests given. The students must pass with an average of at least 70 percent.
Once a person passes the pre-service school and becomes a certified reserve officer, they must complete one more training session, firearms. The firearms qualification is a pass/fail course that they must pass twice, back to back, using 50 rounds of ammunition each. The guidelines are very strict on this timed course.
When an individual is hired by a law enforcement agency as a full-time police officer, they must attend the police academy within one year of their employment. The Basic Law Enforcement Training Program (BLETP) is an 18-week residential program (720 hours) that is run twice a year at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy in Vassalboro.
Prior to attending the full-time academy, officers must pass a series of tests in order to be accepted.
Conditions of their continued employment with the police department also depend on them passing the following battery of tests.
The physical fitness examination is conducted at the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. Applicants must meet the 40th percentile for their age and gender. Candidates failing the examination may retake the exam at any time. All applicants will be retested 30 days prior to the start of the Basic Law Enforcement Training Program and no candidates will be accepted unless they meet the 40th percentile.
All applicants must also undergo an extensive background investigation according to the standards set forth by the Maine Criminal Justice Academy. Background Investigations are conducted by the hiring law enforcement agency or a private investigator licensed by the Maine Department of Public Safety.
New officers must also undergo a psychological evaluation by a licensed psychologist or licensed psychological examiner as well as a polygraph examination (lie detector test) by a person licensed as a polygraph examiner by the Maine Department of Public Safety.
The Basic Law Enforcement Training Program is a very structured course that is staffed by Maine state troopers, deputy sheriffs, game wardens and municipal police officers. These cadres guide the new ‘cadets’ through this intensive learning experience by directing their every move. There may be as many as five or six cadre present at the academy at the beginning of a new class and as few as two or three towards the end of the course when things are running more smoothly. The cadre ensures that each cadet is accounted for at all times and that they are prepared to receive their training.
The class also has its own appointed chain of command while at the police academy. The cadre appoints a new ‘class leader’ each week. Their job is to communicate directly with the cadre and then relay any new information back down the chain of command to the squad leaders. Squad leaders are also appointed by the cadre each week and are the next link in the chain of command. They communicate between the cadets and the class leader. This rank structure gives each cadet a supervisory role so that they can experience firsthand why a chain of command is so important.
While attending the BLETP, the new police officers receive much more in-depth training than the pre-service 100-hour course. As mentioned before, the full-time academy is 720 hours. The pre-service course requires 29 hours of ‘basic law and legal procedures’ while the BLETP offers 71 hours on the same, but expanded, topic. The pre-service course teaches a total of 11 hours of ‘traffic functions’ including two hours of accident reporting. The BLETP offers 107 hours of traffic functions that includes 40 hours of accident investigation and a full 16-hour Intoxilyzer certification class. One final comparison that should be noted is under the heading of ‘Practical Police Skills.’
The pre-service school requires 11 hours that include first aid/CPR and an introduction to defensive driving (classroom). The BLETP requires 263 hours of training that includes 46 hours of firearms training, 40 hours of first responder/CPR, 47 hours of Emergency Vehicle Operation Course and 44 hours of Mechanics of Arrest, Restraint and Control.
Once an officer has completed either course and has received their certification from the Maine Criminal Justice Academy, they must still receive ‘mandatory training’ each year.
In order to maintain their certification, every officer in the state, both full- and part-time, must receive the training that the Board of Trustees at the MCJA has mandated.
Two-hour blocks each of instruction in firearms and new laws are required every year. Other training topics vary from year to year. In 2006, the mandatory training also included a Review of Mandated Policies, Homeless Awareness and Drugs that Impair. The additional mandatory training for 2007 will consist of Basic Computer Crimes, Elder Abuse and the Americans with Disability Act. The Aroostook County Training Committee coordinates all training.
In addition to the mandatory training, there are a variety of other specialized training courses available to the officers in Aroostook County, at the MCJA, around the state and country. Some Presque Isle officers have traveled to such places as New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Washington D.C., Virginia, Ohio, Missouri and California to receive training. They have received training in topics such as death investigations, sexual assault investigations, Intoxilyzer certification, standardized field sobriety testing, drug recognition certification, evidence collection and drug identification, to name a few.
As the world and technology change, the Presque Isle Police Department adapts to the community’s needs and actively seeks the most up-to-date training available.