At its April 20, 2022 monthly meeting, the MPTC Committee took two votes relative to firearms training requirements for law enforcement officers at unarmed police departments:
- Vote #1: For law enforcement officers at unarmed police departments who need to take the Bridge Program (and may not have previously received baseline firearms training):
- A-H officers who successfully complete the Bridge Program this year (FY22 training year 07/01/21 – 06/30/22) must complete firearms requalification training each year going forward (commencing FY23 training year 07/01/22 – 06/30/23)
i. Although not part of the vote, it should be noted that officers don’t need to do firearms requalification training in the training year they complete the Bridge Program as it would be redundant to require baseline firearms training and firearms requalification training in the same training year - I-Z officers who have not yet completed the Bridge Program do not have to complete firearms requalification training until after they’ve successfully completed the Bridge Program
i.. Although not part of the vote, there was discussion prior to the vote that it doesn’t make sense to require officers to do firearms requalification training if they haven’t had the baseline firearms training
- A-H officers who successfully complete the Bridge Program this year (FY22 training year 07/01/21 – 06/30/22) must complete firearms requalification training each year going forward (commencing FY23 training year 07/01/22 – 06/30/23)
- Vote #2: For law enforcement officers at unarmed police departments who have graduated from an MPTC approved fulltime Academy or have received an exemption from that requirement (and likely have previously received baseline firearms training):
- All such officers (not just A-H officers) need to complete firearms requalification training this year (FY22 training year 07/01/21 – 06/30/22)
- All such officers (not just A-H officers) who haven’t completed firearms requalification training in the past five training years will need to complete the MPTC’s 56-hour baseline firearms training program this year (FY22 training year 07/01/21 – 06/30/22) and thereafter complete firearms requalification training each year going forward (commencing FY23 training year 07/01/22 – 06/30/23).
Firearms Training Equipment List
The MPTC has scheduled a series of both classes in ACADIS to ensure all officers in an unarmed department can fulfill their training requirements before June 30, 2022.
The MPTC has Glock 19, gen. 5 firearms for use by any officer who does not have access to a firearm for training. The MPTC does not provide ammunition. The department will be responsible for supplying the ammunition and other supplies for training. The amount of ammunition required will depend on whether or not the officer is requalifying or will be attending the basic firearms training program.
Your department may hire a certified MPTC firearms instructor to complete the necessary training; however, hiring non-MPTC certified instructors to conduct firearms training for your department will not be accepted by the MPTC.