Police recruits sent home after two test positive for COVID-19

Two trainees in the Massachusetts State Police 85th Recruit Training Troop, currently in its 15th week of training at the State Police Academy, received positive results Tuesday from coronavirus tests. The Trainees, both of whom have close personal acquaintances who just learned of positive test results, are the first recruits or staff at the Academy to test positive.

The State Police last week announced that the Academy graduation, originally scheduled for late June, would be accelerated by several weeks. Late last week, the Department decided that this current week, April 20-24, would be the last week for on-site training at the New Braintree facility, and that Trainees would undergo one additional week of online learning and then graduate on May 6.

Upon receipt of the positive results for the two Trainees, one male and one female, Colonel Mason made the decision to dismiss the remaining 239 class members Tuesday, according to Dave Procopio of the Massachusetts State Police. Procopio stated that while not all Trainees had contact with the two who have tested positive, the decision to dismiss all of them was made out of an abundance of caution.

Trainees will complete the remainder of this week’s curriculum through online sessions, and will then undergo the previously planned week of further online learning from April 27-May 1. They will then remain on track for a May 6, purely functional graduation, with no ceremonial flourishes or guests. That May 6 graduation will be five weeks earlier than was initially scheduled when the 85th Recruit Training Troop entered the Academy in January.

Upon their dismissal from the facility, Trainees were instructed to quarantine for 14 days. The Department is making arrangements to have all 239 of them tested for coronavirus during that period.

Additionally, any Academy staff members who believe they had potential contact with the two Trainees will be required to self-report per Department guidelines, and they will have the option to be tested at one of the priority testing sites.

The decision to accelerate the graduation date was made last week after Colonel Mason and his senior Command Staff determined that the current Trainees have acquired the critical skills necessary to contribute to the Department’s mission.

The State Police several weeks ago implemented new operational procedures at the Academy, according to Procopio, as a result of the pandemic, including the following precautions:

-physical distancing in drills, classrooms and study groups;
-adherence to all CDC recommendations, including distancing, hand-washing, and use of sanitizer;
-strict monitoring of trainees for any signs of illness and mandated reporting by trainees of any potential symptoms experienced by them, their family members, or anyone else with whom they have been in contact;
-evaluation of all trainees by a physician every Monday morning upon their return from the weekend;
-daily evaluation by Academy Medical Unit, and if necessary a physician, for any trainee feeling or showing signs of illness, with anyone exhibiting flu-like symptoms required to quarantine at home and seek further medical care and testing if necessary;
-reorganization of platoons into smaller groups;
-frequent disinfecting of academy facilities by staff, trainees, and a contractor;
-changes to food service protocols;
-training, guidance and recommendations received by Academy staff from physicians at UMass Medical Center and Baystate Medical Center;
-suspension of teaching by visiting instructors, whose lessons were converted to remote or online platforms;
-reduction of on-site Academy staff to only essential personnel;
-weekly reminders and instruction on distancing and other guidelines before class dismissal every Friday afternoon; and
-suspension of the Academy tradition of having trainees “sound off” while in proximity of each other and their drill instructors.