In an effort to incentivize police officers, Governor Charlie Baker filed a bill that would offer police officer up to $5,000 in training bonuses if they receive additional training that goes beyond their minimum requirements. Some courses/additional training that the Governor suggests includes:
- Advanced first aid
- Advanced domestic violence and sexual violence training
- Advanced de-escalation techniques
- Narcotics training
- Advanced training in bias-free policing
- Foreign language proficiency “relevant to police work in the jurisdiction in which the individual licensed officer is employed"
Officers will be granted a bonus in the form of annual salary increases depending on the level of training the officer receives. For example, this would be the breakdown of pay increases:
Level 1: $1,000
Level 2: $2,500
Level 3: $5,000
What are the odds this bill gets passed given the current societal climate we find ourselves in? We're at a time in society where people are calling to defund police and Governor Baker comes out suggesting they get more money for additional training. Now, I find this interesting that Governor Baker is for this where a lot of politicians and public figures are trying to appease the mob who is rallying against police. I actually can see where Governor Baker is coming from because we're in a time where police are being discriminated against to the point where they are discouraged from doing their job because they are criticized and put down for every move they make. This incentive by the Governor encourages police to do more training during a time where they more often than not question why they even bother when the courts are not having their backs for what they tasked these officers with doing, which is enforcing the laws. Baker seems to understand that there is a lack of morale within police and they might need that extra push to take on extra training because they might have the mindset "why should we go out of our way when society is turning their backs on us". Just a thought. I think the Governor is trying here with trying to get police to be inspired to take extra training quicker rather than later and the best way to do that is give them money, whether you like that or not. Money gets things done. Think about your job, would you do extra training outside of the bare minimum? Would you do it if they paid you? Yes, more likely than not, don't kid yourself, so police are no different. This might be hot take by me but I'd be okay with paying police bonuses to do extra training. I said from the beginning that the notion to defund police is a fools errand because in order to see change, it takes money and the idea of defunding police is counter-productive. Governor Baker seems to get it here.
-Producer Lightning