By JULIE CUNNINGHAM

(Montague, MA) The Montague Police Department has released a statement addressing reported questions regarding the department’s integrity.

“I can assure everyone that the Montague Police Department treats everyone with dignity, respect, and empathy during the day to day operations and service to the community,” said Chief Christopher Williams in the statement.

Training for full time police officers includes 800 hours of training in Loyalty to Profession & Community, Bias & Sexual Harassment, Ethical Decision Making, Fair & Impartial Policing, Procedural Justice, Problem Solving, Diversity & Use of Force. In service officers complete 40 hours of training each year in topics like Police Survival, Investigations Involving Animals, Legal Updates, Interacting with Mental Illness, Interaction with Youth, Procedural Justice & Legitimacy, Violent Extremism Awareness, and Police Ethics & Excited Delirium Syndrome. Yearly training is completed in Defensive Tactics, Firearms, Taser Use, and First Aid. Command staff is trained in Cultural Bias/Diversity and is in the process of being trained with the FBI Leadership Institute in Supervisor, Command, and Executive Leadership.

“The goal is to complete all three phases and make each officer that much better and professional, said Williams.

The department is also working on crisis and mental health with a grant from the Department of Mental Health for Critical Incident Training. Officers in the department have also completed training in Behavioral Recognition, Reimagining Juvenile Justice, Inner Resilience for First Responders, Civil Rights, Use of Force Investigations, Internal Affairs Investigations, Youth Crisis Intervention, Youth Violence Prevention, Constitutional Issues Regarding k-9, and Healthy Schools Summit.

The statement goes on to outline the policies of the department and arrest statistics. To read the full statement click here.

”I believe our statistics show we do not abuse our authority, power, force or people,” Williams says at the end of the statement. “The Montague Police Department condemns the actions of any police officer that does.”

Critics of police departments in the United States argue that despite training racial bias and excessive use of force still exists.