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State investigating after officers allegedly fast-forwarded through mandated trainings
“We have discovered instances where trainings that should take hours to complete are finished in a matter of minutes.”
The state’s Municipal Police Training Committee is pressing pause on its online courses after some officers were accused of fast-forwarding through mandatory in-service training.
“We have discovered instances where trainings that should take hours to complete are finished in a matter of minutes,” Chief Jeff Farnsworth, MPTC executive director, wrote in a Nov. 13 letter to the state’s police chiefs.
According to Farnsworth’s letter, some officers were bypassing their annual online training “by using technologies that override controls meant to prevent fast-forwarding through the training,” even though the introductory slides noted the expected runtime for each segment.
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The agency is working to identify the extent of the issue and to “implement any remedial measures necessary,” he wrote. In the meantime, MPTC has suspended online training.
Police oversight:
“With the convenience and flexibility of online in-service training comes the expectation and requirement that officers complete the training in its entirety,” Farnsworth wrote.
According to the letter, officers who completed an online course in less than the minimum runtime will forfeit the ability to do online training and will be required to complete their mandatory training in-person.
“Any officer that has failed to complete any required training in its entirety will be required to attend in-person training and their names will be forwarded to [the Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission] for failure to successfully complete in-service training,” Farnsworth wrote.
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The MPTC said it is still reviewing the number of agencies and officers impacted.
The agency “remains deeply committed to ensuring academic integrity and the highest standards of professionalism in law enforcement training,” an MPTC spokesperson said in a statement, adding, “We appreciate the continued partnership of police departments in maintaining the integrity of our training programs and upholding the values that guide our profession.”
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