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Reports emerge of grueling conditions at State Police Academy following recruit’s death
Before his death last week, Enrique Delgado-Garcia allegedly described hazing-like conditions at the State Police Academy, his close friend told The Boston Globe.
Accusations of grueling conditions at the Massachusetts State Police Academy have emerged as the investigation into the death of State Police recruit Enrique Delgado-Garcia continues.
Delgado-Garcia, 25, died Friday after becoming unresponsive during a training exercise in a boxing ring the day before. Details about the incident are scant so far, and authorities have yet to announce a cause or manner of death. Delgado-Garcia’s family previously told NBC10 Boston and Telemundo Nueva Inglaterra he was missing teeth and had suffered a broken neck and a brain injury.
Now, Delgado-Garcia’s close friend and one of his former classmates from the State Police Academy have spoken out about alleged training conditions.
Previously:
John Shugrue, who met Delgado-Garcia when they attended the same middle school in Worcester, told The Boston Globe his friend spoke of grueling, hazing-like conditions at the academy, though he said Delgado-Garcia was determined to push through.
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“His exact words were ‘torture,’” Shugrue told the Globe. “He thought it was worth it, so he kept pushing. He’s not the kind of person to give up.”
A State Police spokesperson told the Globe the academy is designed to be rigorous and incorporate stress exposure resilience training to help prepare for a “challenging and often dangerous career in law enforcement.”
But Giovani Jn-Baptiste, a former State Police trainee who trained alongside Delgado-Garcia, told NBC10 Boston he felt singled out and endured alleged bullying and racist remarks at the academy.
“Physically, I was prepared. Mentally, I was prepared for training, but not mental abuse,” he told the news outlet. “Every day, there was bullying.”
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Jn-Baptiste also spoke with WBZ, reportedly describing a training experience more akin to college fraternity hazing than law enforcement training. State Police dismissed Jn-Baptiste from the academy six weeks before graduation, the news outlet reported.
“Privacy laws prevent the Department from commenting further on any details of the trainee’s dismissal, however, the Department vehemently denies the allegations,” a State Police spokesperson said in a statement.
The spokesperson also said the agency “does not tolerate any form of hazing, discrimination, or misconduct, and we thoroughly investigate any allegation of such behavior.”
Who will lead the investigation?
Delgado-Garcia’s death remains under investigation, and Worcester District Attorney Joseph Early Jr. announced Monday his office will not lead the probe, as Delgado-Garcia previously worked in the DA’s office.
“I’m looking for someone who can look at this with an independent view, who doesn’t have a stake in its outcome,” Early told reporters.
Appearing on GBH’s “Boston Public Radio” Tuesday, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Campbell said she’s been in touch with Early, and authorities will determine “very soon” which agency should lead the investigation.
Complicating that search, Campbell noted her office and all district attorney offices in Massachusetts have State Police personnel assigned to them. The AG’s office also represents state agencies — including the State Police — in any civil litigation, she said.
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“So it’s a dual role here that I have to navigate very carefully, and we will,” Campbell said. “And we will get to a place where the family, of course, has answers and an appropriate appointing authority to investigate this on their behalf and with them.”
Campbell said she cried after learning about Delgado-Garcia’s death, describing the case as “devastating.”
“I have a State Police unit in the office; they are heartbroken,” she said. “I know fellow trainees who worked with him for months are heartbroken, and absolutely his family is heartbroken.”
Campbell also said she understands the sense of urgency surrounding the investigation, particularly for Delgado-Garcia’s family and community.
“They have a lot of questions,” she said. “They need a point of contact to go to to get those questions answered and someone to navigate that investigation on their behalf.”
‘They’re going to have to go back to the drawing board’
Speaking at an unrelated event Tuesday outside the State House, Gov. Maura Healey declined to comment on who should take over the investigation, according to the Boston Herald.
Asked if there should be a pause in State Police Academy training activities during the investigation, Healey reportedly cautioned against jumping to conclusions.
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“I think that’s important until we know the facts,” she said, according to the Herald. “That class, actually, they’re about to wrap up training. In fact, there’d be a graduation ceremony in just a few weeks. But we’re going to make sure that the matter is thoroughly reviewed and we understand exactly what happened.”
According to Campbell, the investigation also provides State Police a moment for introspection.
“You do need training, of course, and I think now MSP has an opportunity to say, ‘OK, while we make sure our folks have rigorous training, how do we ensure it’s safe?’” she told GBH. “So they’re going to have to go back to the drawing board on that, obviously, and I think they will.”
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