By Colleen Cronin
Boston Herald
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BOSTON — The next State Police recruit class will be delayed pending the implementation of dozens of safety and training recommendations in response to the 2024 death of a cadet at the agency’s academy, said Colonel Geoffrey Noble.
“That class will be delayed until further notice,” Noble said, “and until such time that I and our leadership team are briefed, and are satisfied, and are confident that the priority recommendations that we’ve identified have been implemented.”
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The 93rd Recruit Training Troop was set to start at the academy in New Braintree next month.
News of the delay came along with the release Wednesday of an assessment of the State Police Academy that was commissioned after the death of trooper trainee Enrique Delgado Garcia.
Delgado Garcia died in the hospital a day after being knocked out during an academy boxing match in September 2024.
Among the changes to be implemented includes the permanent ban of boxing and other head strike activities at the academy, Noble said.
“This department continues to mourn the loss of Trooper Delgado Garcia,” Noble said. “I renew our commitment to honoring his life, his service.”
The 100-plus-page report, which was completed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, cost just under $600,000 and took about a year to complete.
The report found that the academy meets both the standards set by the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission and the Municipal Police Training Committee.
“However, the review identified systemic and cultural challenges that significantly affect trainee safety, learning, and morale, and retention,” the report said.
The report noted that high attrition compared to other academies was celebrated, with the caps of resigned recruits hung in the “Chow Hall.”
Command staff has frequent turnover with 21 commandants over the last 33 years, making their average tenure a year and a half, the report said.
The level of stress in the academy is high, which can be important for preparing recruits for duty, but at times was too extreme and not always linked to stated objectives.
The report described a cadet throwing up from stress at lunch, feedback only coming in the form of yelling, and early instruction that insisted that “nothing” a cadet did would be considered correct behavior.
“Drill instructors wield significant influence over trainee socialization,” the report said, “yet their conduct does not always reflect the professional behaviors expected of troopers in the field.”
After receiving the report, Noble formed a 10-person working group of both officers and civilians who came up with 31 recommendations from the report that need to be completed or underway before the next class can begin.
Two smaller recruit classes graduated from the academy after Delgado-Garcia’s death and before the delay was imposed.
Noble acknowledged that this delay could put a strain on the department, which relies on the new recruit to fill roles as other troopers enter retirement. He didn’t offer a timeline on when the academy would start, but said that the working group would convene at the end of the summer to check in on the recommendations’ progress.
Among the recommendations are changes to the stress level of the academy, which is currently highly militarized, to become a more balanced system and a move to a “safety-first culture.” The State Police will also hire a civilian director to work alongside the academy’s commandant, and institute baseline physical and psychological screenings for recruits before the academy begins.
The report did not focus specifically on how and why Delgado Garcia died after the boxing exercises. Noble said that was because of the criminal proceedings and investigation into his death that are ongoing.
Four troopers — the supervisor of the defensive tactics unit Lt. Jennifer Penton and three instructors Casey LaMonte, Edwin Rodriguez, and David Montanez — have been charged with manslaughter in connection to his death.
Following the release of the report, a spokesperson for Gov. Maura Healey, who told the colonel to initiate the report, said that, “This independent review provides an important framework for the Massachusetts State Police to better align with national best practices and strengthen public trust.”
“Colonel Noble has already begun this work, and he will continue to have the Governor’s full support as the Department implements these recommendations,” the spokesperson added.
State Sen. John Cronin , the chair of the Joint Committee on Public Safety and Security, said that he had “full confidence” in Noble and his command team to carry these recommendations forward.
“The State Police are taking the difficult and necessary steps to modernize the State Police Academy in the wake of Trooper Delgado-Garcia’s tragic death,” Cronin wrote. “He’s the right leader at the right time to move the State Police forward.”
The president of the State Police Association of Massachusetts Association, the union that represents troopers, said that the union is carefully reviewing the recommendations in the report.
“Our members assigned to the Academy have consistently done an outstanding job preparing future troopers for careers with the Massachusetts State Police,” Association President Brian Williams said in a statement to the Herald. “We hope this report leads to the additional resources and incentives necessary to support their continued success in training and developing some of the finest troopers in the nation.”
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