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Main Page Academy Exemption
(Click here to view the original thread on the MassCops Message Board)

Posted by: bosoxmanny

Hey guys just wondering something here that hopefully someone can answer. I'm in the running for a non CS job. I should hear back sometime next week or so. It looks extremely favorable for me right now but obviously being a small town it depends on whether my academy transfers or not. I worked for a municipal agency out of state for 3 years prior to coming back here to MA and getting hired at a college dept. Prior to coming back I got the "advisory letter" that says my training would qualify for a permanant exemption. However the letter says that the appointing chief needs to apply for the ACTUAL exemption. Now a condition of my hire at this particular college was that I get that advisory letter. I do not know at this point though if they ever applied for the ACTUAL exemption though i assume they did. From what I'm reading on the MPTC website it says the advisory letter lets you know that an exepmtion "would be forthcoming" so I assume it'd be all set, however have any of you ever heard of someone who has gotten a favorable advisory letter and then when the chief of the city or town applies for the permanent exemption they get denied?? Just anxious and curious thanks

Posted by: JoninNH

I've heard of one case where the chief didn't apply for the exemption since he selected another candidate. Mind you, this is only what I heard third hand. As for the exemption being denied, I've never heard of it... third hand, second hand, or otherwise.

Posted by: Macop

If they can save money by granting the exemption, be assured they will. Its all about the benjamins, they aint gonna spend the money to send you to the full time academy if they don't have to.

Posted by: j809

There was a kid on Stoughton PD that was a former NYPD officer and SPD decided to just send him to FT MPOC all over again. Another former NYPD officer on Shirley PD got the waiver, so every department is different. One LAPD officer just got on Concord PD with a waiver.

Posted by: bosoxmanny

Thanks for the responses guys. I got word I start next Friday regardless of the outcome of the Training Council. If they need to send me they need to send me

Posted by: dave7336

Quote:

Originally Posted by bosoxmanny

Thanks for the responses guys. I got word I start next Friday regardless of the outcome of the Training Council. If they need to send me they need to send me

congratulations and good luck

Posted by: Edmizer1

Your exemption depends. I worked at a university for several years with a full-time Mass Academy and went to full-time in-service each year. I now work for a town and the exemption was no problem. There is a town near me where a cop worked for a city in I think Louisiana. He was able to work at a college in Mass with a a State SPO exemption. He couldn't get a full-time academy exemption though because the academy in Louisiana was only like 6 weeks which is considered ok for full time cops there but not for Mass.

Posted by: chief801

In order to get the exemption, the MPTC evaluates the academy curriculum and decides whether or not the "essential" topics were comprehensibly covered. What those topics are, I do not know. I know of people who have not gotten waivers after attending the 7 week FLETC academy...

Posted by: Curious EMT

If someone DOES get a waiver from another state, what are they required to do to get up to speed with mass laws?

Posted by: USMCMP5811

I believe attend a P/I class

Posted by: rpd896

Anyone know how long you can be out of Mass for yout part time academy to still be good? I am currently in NY went through full time academy here and might want to come back.

Posted by: Nuclearaudio

i beleive it is 5(five) years. dont qoute me though.

Posted by: texdep

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpd896

Anyone know how long you can be out of Mass for yout part time academy to still be good? I am currently in NY went through full time academy here and might want to come back.

Believe it or not there is no time constraints on the Reserve Academy. It is likely though that the hiring department might want you to retake the law exam and/or a reserve in-service.

Posted by: Macop

The only time constraints is for the f/t academy which is 5 years.

Posted by: rpd896

Thanks for the info

Posted by: Home Wood

Quote:

Originally Posted by Macop

The only time constraints is for the f/t academy which is 5 years.

In North Carolina, your certification is good for one year after you leave your department. Five years is much better.

Posted by: NEPS

If you complete your NY academy, it seems likely that the MPTC would waive your requirement of attending a full-time or part-time Mass. academy.

Posted by: texdep

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEPS

If you complete your NY academy, it seems likely that the MPTC would waive your requirement of attending a full-time or part-time Mass. academy.

Not quite correct. There is no provision in MA for a waiver of the part-time academy.
There is only a waiver of the full-time academy and ONLY if a individual will be in a full-time position.

Posted by: NEPS

Quote:

Originally Posted by texdep

Not quite correct. There is no provision in MA for a waiver of the part-time academy.
There is only a waiver of the full-time academy and ONLY if a individual will be in a full-time position.

The only statutory requirement of which I am aware requiring part-time officers to receive pre-service training is found in MGL Ch. 41, s. 96B.

"Each person appointed as a reserve, or intermittent police officer, in a city or town shall, prior to exercising police powers, satisfactorily complete a course of study prescribed by said committee."

It would be strange to hold that the committee, which may waive the requirement of a Mass. academy for a full-time officer (and I know something about this having been given a waiver), cannot also declare that a part-time officer who has a full-time academy from another state has "satisfactorily complete[d] a course of study prescribed by said committee."

Though courts can certainly read things very technically, the presence of a waiver provision for FT officers elsewhere in the statute probably would not prohibit the committee authorized to determine the standards to begin with from giving a similar waiver for PT officers who achieve a higher level of training. Giving training waivers to PT officers is not expressly forbidden by the statute and would be well within the kind of discretion courts give to this type of agency.

A hyper-technical reading of the statute would mean that all of the retired FT officers in the commonwealth who are now appointed as PT officers to work details would have to attend the PT academy before commencing their duties. That would be absurd.

Posted by: texdep

Quote:

Originally Posted by NEPS

The committee has provisions only to grant waivers only for individuals going into full-time positions. So strange as it may sound MPTC will find that a given out of state academy qualifies for a waiver for an individual going into a FT position the same individual will not get the waiver for a PT position. (By the way the MA fulltime academy IS approved to qualify for a PT job the committee just won't give you a waiver to it for a pt job)

Before you argue that I can't be right do a search on the forums here for "Brimfield"
You will find a post or two about the Brimfield chief which is a part-time job. The individual the Town Hired had a full-time academy from Florida, where he had been a sgt., which would have qualified for a waiver to the full-time academy. The committee would not certify him to exercise police powers until he completed the part-time academy because they DO NOT have a waiver process for part-time positions.

Posted by: Edmizer1

Don't believe everyting you read about the Brimfield case. I hear there were many reasons that guy couldn't get certified. As long as someone has their full-time cert transferred, it shouldn't matter how many hours a week a town wants to schedule the guy for.

Posted by: texdep

Quote:

Originally Posted by Edmizer1

Don't believe everyting you read about the Brimfield case. I hear there were many reasons that guy couldn't get certified. As long as someone has their full-time cert transferred, it shouldn't matter how many hours a week a town wants to schedule the guy for.

It may not make sense but, that is the way it is.
No matter what YOUR opinion is.. What matters is what MPTC says.
The reason I refered to the Brimfield threads is NOT because of the particular individual but.... in the newspaper articles that were posted the director of MPTC is quoted and states that exemptions are only given to individuals that are in fulltime positions, also if you go to the MPTC site and click on the exemption link and read you will see that they make it clear exemptions are only granted to individuals going into full time positions.

Posted by: NEPS

Texdep, I have reviewed the posts you mentioned and I concede you are right. Thank you for the education.

I do still wonder about all the retired FT officers now working PT doing details...

What the MPTC doesn't know about can't hurt them, I guess. My department certainly has not asked the MPTC for certification of its new PT officers.

Posted by: texdep

NEPS, don't confuse the technicalities. An individual who graduated from a MA fulltime academy or who has a permanent exemption because of an out of state fulltime academy CAN work as a PT officer. The point is that the Council will only issue an exemption to a person going into a full-time position. Later on in their career they could move into a PT position no problem.

Before you think we've found a loop-hole the MPTC has already closed it. Agencies used to say that they were going to put a person on fulltime to get the exemption but, only put them on PT. The council now requires that the agency requesting the exemption certify that the individual is filling a FT position and that the individual be already appointed and on the payroll as a FULLTIME officer (obviously they can't exercise police powers until the exemtion is issued.)

Posted by: Irish_Cop_In_Va

I know an officer here in VA who was a Deputy in Florida (full service LE Sheriff in FLA) anyway he had about 12 or 15 on with Port St. Lucie came up here to VA and had to go back through the whole Academy again. I know another officer who was on the job in Washington State he comes here and only has to take the legal portion of the Academy and got waived on the rest. The explanation I heard was that VA and WA are recipricol whereas we are not recipricol with training with FLA. However (lol) I had a buddy who left here and went to Daytona Beach PD and he only had to take legals for FLA and was was treated like a regular lateral on everything else. So I imagine when it comes to out of state laterals anywhere in the country it comes down to how much money the City and department are willing to spend, and how desperatly they need you.

Posted by: bdqadvisor

Irishcop, your pal may have been BS'ing you. An out-of-state, former military police, or former Federal officer that wants Fla certification must first apply for exemption. If they do that successfully FDLE issues them a Form 76. With that in hand, they can then enroll in an Equivalency of Training course. That is a 2 week program that tests them in the 4 high liability areas of firearms, defensive tactics, driving, and first responder. If they are successful there, they get a Form 76A, and that allows them to register for the State Officer Certification Examination. They will have to know the 12,643 pages of the recruit curriculum in order to pass this exam. About 60 percent of the first-time testers pass. While it is a tough process, it is much better that going back thru the recruit academy. This is a one-time only deal, but you can apply to take the state exam up to 3 times before the academy becomes your only other option. Good news is, about 99% pass by the third attempt. But it is tough!

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