Certification: New Graduates/Hires/SSPOs
Submission information for law enforcement officer certification
The Commission requires agencies to help verify certain requirements of the statute and submit information to renew the certification of officers prior to the date of expiration. In addition, the statute requires that all new officers attending an academy training be certified by the Commission.
The certification standards for all officers include:
- Attaining the age of 21;
- Successful completion of a high school education or equivalent, as determined by the Commission;
- Successful completion of the basic training program approved by the MPTC;
- Successful completion of a physical and psychological fitness evaluation approved by the Commission;
- Successful completion of a state and national background check, including, but not limited to, fingerprinting and a full employment history; provided, that if the applicant has been previously employed in law enforcement in any state or United States territory or by the federal government, the applicant’s full employment record, including complaints and discipline, shall be evaluated in the background check;
- Passage of an examination approved by the Commission;
- Possession of current first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation certificates or the equivalent, as determined by the Commission;
- Successful completion of an oral interview; and
- Being of good moral character and fit for employment in law enforcement, as determined by the Commission.
Certification Standards Fact Sheet for download and printing
Certification Fact Sheet for download and printing
Criminal convictions that are directly related to the duties and responsibilities of a law enforcement officer and could potentially disqualify an applicant from eligibility for certification include those that may subject an offender to consequences under M.G.L. c. 6E, §§ 3, 4, or 10.
A “new candidate hire” is attending, scheduled to attend, or recently graduated from an MPTC-operated or MPTC-authorized basic training academy. The following attestation and related documents will be required, upon MPTC’s request, to be uploaded into Acadis. To request certification documents for a new candidate hire, please download the following documents:
A “new officer hire” has previously completed basic training and has worked as a police officer, but was not employed as police officer on July 1, 2021, and was therefore not certified by statute. This officer has not had a break in service greater than 5 years.
Officers who were employed on July 1, 2021 as a police officer and are transferring to other departments are not considered new officer hires and are not required to submit the Certification Packet. These officers will be recertified according to their last names and submitted with the hiring department along with other active officers.
The determination of requisite training to meet the standard is made by MPTC. If the break in service is greater than two years, the sponsoring agency or officer should obtain a letter from MPTC and include it with the Certification Packet submission to POST.
Certification Packet (fillable version)
Hiring departments for Special State Police Officers (SSPOs) should follow the below protocol effective March 1, 2023.
All applicants for Special State Police Officer warrants must provide a POST Certification Number, along with their SSPO warrant application, to the Massachusetts State Police (MSP) Certification Unit. Please follow the below guidelines to submit the required forms to POST prior to submitting documentation to the MSP.
If the candidate for SSPO is a recent graduate of a full-time police academy and has already obtained a certification notice/number, this is evidence of graduation from a full-time academy and POST Certification, so there is no need to re-file with POST, simply provide a copy of the certification notice to MSP.
If the officer has already been POST certified, as they have been recertified according to their last name, simply provide a copy of the certification notice to MSP. No further action is required by POST.
If the candidate was not employed on July 1, 2021, in any law enforcement capacity, but has previously completed a full-time academy and worked in a police capacity, the candidate would be considered a “new hire” and the below forms must be provided to POST for the officer to be certified. Please provide the certificate of graduation from their full-time academy to POST as well. A POST Certification notice/number will be issued and the SSPO department would provide that certification notice to the MSP.
If the officer was certified by statute (due to being employed on July 1, 2021) but has not been recertified according to their last name, although not required by POST, it is PREFERABLE that the officer obtain their POST Certification prior to seeking an SSPO warrant. Please file the below documents with POST. If this is the case, the officer would not be submitted for recertification according to last name as they will be obtaining their certification number independent of the recertification process.
Certification Packet (fillable version)
Please complete the School Resource Officer Application form below. This form should be completed by the Chief or their designee.
The officer will be required to complete the SRO Attestation, which must be uploaded as an attachment to the application.
Officers must be Certified before they can be issued the additional SRO certification. If you have an officer whose last name begins Q-Z and is due to be recertified in 2024 who you wish to designate as an SRO, please submit the Agency Intake Form (linked below) so we have the information needed to issue a certification. The officer does not need to complete the Candidate Packet.
There is a field in the Agency Intake form for the department to upload a copy of the Candidate Packet – this field is mandatory, but any document can be uploaded here in lieu of the Candidate Packet.
School Resource Officer attestation form (PDF)
School Resource Officer signature page (PDF)
School Resource Officer application
Contact [email protected] if you need assistance.
If seeking certification for multiple officers, please complete one application form for each officer.
Use this form to communicate any change in officer status (i.e. new hires, transfers, changes in employment status, request to remove disciplinary records, etc.)
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