People training to keep the peace in our communities know they face risks. These aren’t desk jobs.
But when providing essential training for cops, the state needs to be sure no unnecessary risks are taken. And police chiefs should be able to trust that when they send recruits to any of the five academies run by the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security, every effort is made to protect them.
For now, the jury is out on whether that common sense principle was in play when a Granby officer, 41-year-old Shawn Rooney, was struck in the eye by a baton last year at the Western Massachusetts Regional Police Academy in Springfield.
In the wake of his injury, which left Rooney nearly blind in that eye, the Municipal Police Training Committee suspended the kind of drill Rooney was performing when injured. While training in defensive tactics continues, no drills are now allowed employing padded suits and so-called impact weapons. Rooney remains on temporary full disability benefits.
During the months they spend as trainees, recruits work to master techniques of self-defense. They need to know how to stop threats and de-escalate confrontations. Their ability to do fend off attackers improves public safety for all and is a critical aspect of heading into public wearing a badge.
Thankfully, the severity of Rooney’s injury is uncommon in this training, recent state records obtained by the Gazette show. That injury came Nov. 30 when the officer was being coached on how to handle an unruly bar patron. But recruits do get hurt.
The injury Rooney suffered should raise awareness. Training academies need to take every step possible to prevent it from happening again.
Perhaps the training involving “impact weapons,” which is listed as optional for recruits at the academies, should require use of protective lenses.
The Gazette review of injury reports from the five academies, by reporter Dan Crowley, found that at least 20 people training at the academies have been hurt since 2014 while engaged in hands-on, defensive tactics.
Most injuries were the expected kind, like soft-tissue injuries that don’t leave lasting damage. “During a take-down in edge weapon defense, left elbow popped, followed by a burning pain,” reads one injury report from February in the files obtained by the newspaper through a public records request.
Not all information about what happened to Rooney is yet available — and should be released as soon as possible, so the Valley’s law enforcement community understands more fully what happened to Rooney and how his injury could have been prevented.
While a state police investigation was completed in February, the state Executive Office of Public Safety and Security declined to release it to the Gazette, citing its use in an ongoing personnel investigation.
The Granby Police Department, Rooney’s home unit, also wants to see that report, which Chief Alan Wishart says he’s requested for months. “We don’t know if anything is being done,” Wishart told the Gazette.
To their credit, officials with the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security pay attention to safety. That’s why instructors are required to report when recruits are injured.
It’s why those who are hurt get care and rehab services designed to prevent the recurrence of injuries.
And before recruits arrive, they receive a health and wellness guide that advises them on fitness goals. Its purpose: have trainees come as ready as possible to engage in hands-on training without mishaps liked pulled muscles — or worse.
If the state police investigation finds Rooney was left vulnerable due to inattention or negligence, all future instructors must know what went wrong and see that it doesn’t happen again.