New Bedford Guide Your Guide to New Bedford and South Coast, MA
“The Bristol County Sheriff’s Office is increasing officer training to make corrections more professional and modern.
In keeping with a campaign pledge, Sheriff Paul Heroux has extended the training academy for new corrections officers from eight weeks to nine weeks to add classes focused on de-escalation, dealing with mental illness, duty to intervene, and implicit bias.
“If corrections officers are trained in de-escalation, they will have the tools they need to do their jobs better,” Sheriff Heroux said. “How can we expect a CO to do a tough job if the CO doesn’t get the training they need to do their job?
“In the past, these topics were not taught to a level I was satisfied with,” Sheriff Heroux continued, “but now we’re making them a priority.”
The following classes will be added to the recruit training academy: Dealing with Mental Illness (3.5 hours), Duty to Intervene (4 hours), Implicit Bias (3.5 hours) and De-escalation (6-8 hours). Those topics will continue to be covered in other recruit classes, such as Communication Skills, Use of Force, Suicide Prevention, and Cultural Diversity, among others.
The changes will begin with the next recruit academy, which is scheduled to start Monday, April 24. Additionally, the BCSO will be adding training hours in defensive tactics, report writing, physical fitness, and suicide trauma awareness.
The BCSO will also be expanding de-escalation training during the required 40 hours of annual in-service training for current corrections officers.
Investing resources in officer training is nothing new for Sheriff Heroux, who tripled the police training budget from $50,000 to $150,000 during his time as Mayor of Attleboro.
“I tripled the police training budget during a time when people were calling to defund the police,” Sheriff Heroux said of the months after the George Floyd tragedy. “I decided to make investments in Attleboro police officers having the right training to do their jobs the best possible way. The same applies here at the Sheriff’s Office. This investment in training is really an investment in our communities as it will benefit our officers and the inmates.”’
