APS forty hour investigation training
The Massachusetts State Police, through their training academy, provides a forty-hour basic investigation certification course to all Adult Protective Service (APS) investigators from the Disabled Persons Protection Commission (DPPC), Department of Developmental Services (DDS), Department of Mental Health (DMH) and the Massachusetts Rehabilitation Commission (MRC) charged with conducting M.G.L. c.19C investigations of allegations of abuse committed against persons with disabilities. The curriculum includes information on victimization, interviewing and interrogation, criminal statutes, court preparation, medical examinations, hospital protocol, crime lab, report writing, computer crime, disability awareness, forensic interviewing, property laws and crimes against persons with disabilities.
APS forty hour sexual assault investigation training
All APS investigators who work for the Disabled Persons Protection Commission also attend a 40 hour law enforcement training on sexual assault investigation. This includes a review of pertinent Massachusetts laws, as well as information on interviewing victims and perpetrators of sexual assault.
Law enforcement training — the Municipal Police Training Committee (MPTC) curriculum
The MPTC curriculum titled Adults with Disabilities and Law Enforcement formally replaced the MPTC's existing curriculum on Special Needs. This curriculum was made possible through the efforts of multiple agencies and individuals working together toward a shared vision to prepare recruits to effectively respond to incidents of crimes, abuse and neglect committed against adults with disabilities. The collaborative agencies through the Building Partnerships for the Protection of Persons with Disabilities Initiative (BPI), who developed the curriculum, provides a one-day training to new recruits in the training academies across the state. The curriculum is broken down into five modules:
- Module I: Understanding the Prevalence of Violence
- Module II: The Multidisciplinary Response
- Module III: Adult Protective Service System
- Module IV: Interacting with Persons with Disabilities
- Module V: Understanding and Applying The Law
Although each module is free-standing and can be used independently, the intent is for the modules to be used collectively as a comprehensive six hour training program.
Program goals
- To introduce law enforcement recruits to the crimes committed against adults with disabilities and how they, as first responders, can assist these victims of crimes by ensuring they have equal access to the criminal justice system
- To equip police officers with the knowledge and skills necessary to recognize, report and investigate crimes committed against adults with disabilities
Program objectives
- To identify the prevalence and complexities in conducting investigations of crimes committed against persons with disabilities
- To understand the multidisciplinary response in reporting and investigating crimes committed against persons with disabilities as defined in the Memorandums of Understanding (MOU)
- To understand the Massachusetts Adult Protective Service System and the function of the Disabled Persons Protection Commission
- To acquire a general knowledge of the different types of disabilities and how to effectively respond and communicate to victims or witnesses of a crime who have a disability
- To demonstrate an understanding of the federal and state statutes relevant to adults with disabilities and how those statutes are to be applied
The objectives include identifying the prevalence and complexities in conducting investigations of crimes committed against persons with disabilities, understanding the multidisciplinary response in reporting and investigating crimes against persons with disabilities as defined in the Memorandums of Understanding (MOU), acquiring a general knowledge of the types of disabilities police are likely to encounter and recognize how to effectively respond to victims or witnesses of a crime, and demonstrating an understanding of the federal and state statutes relevant to adults with physical and/or mental disabilities and how those statutes are to be applied.
On-line veteran officer training
On-Line training for Reporting and Investigating Crimes Committed Against Persons with Disabilities is accessible to all Massachusetts municipal and state police officers and APS investigators through the Massachusetts State Police on-line training program. Please contact the Director of Online Training for the Massachusetts State Police Academy at: (508) 867-1000 to access the training.