NEMLEC Foundation Sponsors 2016 Criminal Investigations Training Program

CHELMSFORD — The Northeastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council (NEMLEC) Police Foundation is pleased to announce that it hosted its annual two-week Criminal Investigations Training Program last week.

The course ran from March 28 through April 7, allowing municipal police detectives from many of the 60-plus cities and towns that NEMLEC represents to participate in a comprehensive, hands-on training in a variety of areas.

This year’s class was made up of 24 detectives from 16 police departments. To date, more than 200 police officers from throughout the state have participated in the intensive detectives program, which is hosted at the Chelmsford Police Department.

The purpose of the program is to better equip law enforcement investigators in managing investigations, managing and reconstructing crime scenes, writing and executing search warrants, completing thorough reports, and preparing cases for prosecution.

“The Criminal Investigations Training Program has become an essential part of the continuous education necessary for detectives,” said NEMLEC Foundation Director Sharon Crowley. “We are proud to support this high level of training for our police departments.”

Middlesex County District Attorney Marian Ryan addressed the class on its first day, showing her continued support for the program and its impact on the departments of Middlesex County. NEMLEC honored Ryan as well as the Middlesex Community College Theatre Department, whose students role-play crime victims and suspects during the training.

“It’s important for us to recognize the people who make this training possible,” said Lincoln Police Chief A. Kevin Kennedy. “The support of the District Attorney’s office and Middlesex Community College were vital to the program’s success.”

Chief Kennedy, who serves on the Board of Directors for the NEMLEC Foundation, facilitated this year’s training, where he reviewed the Juvenile Miranda law. This includes the legal requirements of police questioning juvenile suspects as it pertains to their Miranda rights: the presence, requirements, and role of an interested adult, as well as opportunity for the juvenile to consent with said adult. Chief Kennedy also covered custodial questioning vs. non-custodial questioning.

Retired State Police Sgt. Brian O’Hara and Watertown Police Detective Dave MacNeil also came in for the first two days of the training for intensive instruction on crime scene analysis. This included fingerprinting, documentation and procedures to ensure the preservation of evidence.

The program covered the following topics over the two week period:

• Leadership and Ethics
• Search and Seizure
• Search Warrant Preparation and Execution
• Eyewitness Identification Procedures
• Interviews and Interrogations
• Crime Scene: Preservation, Documentation and Processing
• Background Investigations and Sources of Information
• Report Writing
• Trial Preparation and Courtroom Testimony
• Medical-Legal Investigation
• Case Management and Preparation for Court
• Media Relations
• Practical Exercises in Crime Scene Processing
• Practical Exercises in Interviews and Interrogations

This was the tenth detectives training session sponsored by the NEMLEC Foundation. Since 2009, over 200 detectives from 60-plus cities, towns, and sheriff’s departments in Middlesex and Essex Counties have gone through this vital course.

The training was subsidized by the NEMLEC Police Foundation Inc. and costs departments just $500 per person for the entire two week program.

“We have hosted the Criminal Investigations Training Program at the Chelmsford Police Department for seven years now,” said Chelmsford Police Chief James Spinney. “Thanks to the NEMLEC Foundation, we welcome officers from around the state to our department, and can do so at very little cost.”

The training session included detectives from the following NEMLEC communities: Concord, Chelmsford, Haverhill, Dracut, North Andover, Billerica, Somerville, Lexington, Lincoln, Tewksbury, Burlington, Medford, Winchester. Three non-NEMLEC communities – Natick, Wayland and Sudbury.

About the NEMLEC Police Foundation:

The NEMLEC Police Foundation, Inc. exists to promote and pursue training, education, research, projects, and programs that benefit municipal police agencies and their communities in Northeastern Massachusetts. The foundation promotes the public’s understanding of their police departments. It receives gifts, contributions, and grants from individual benefactors or private organizations and distributes those gifts to benefit The North Eastern Massachusetts Law Enforcement Council and its cities and towns. Follow the Foundation on Twitter @NEMLECInc or Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/NEMLEC-Police-Foundation-Inc.

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