Two Cape Cod police academy leaders have been suspended pending an investigation into “inappropriate conduct” between staff and student officers, according to a letter from the Massachusetts Police Training Committee (MPTC).
The letter states the East Falmouth Police Academy director and academy coordinator were suspended pending further investigation. The academy’s website identified the director as Christopher Donelan and academy coordinator as Edward Dunne.
The suspensions come after the MPTC was made aware of concerns of “inappropriate conduct” from academy staff on Feb. 26, MPTC Executive Director Rick Rathbun wrote in a letter Monday.
The MPTC notified police chiefs about concerns raised by agencies with student officers attending the East Falmouth Academy Recruit Office Course on Feb. 27, the letter said.
The MPTC then started to collect and review necessary documents for its investigation. Rathbun also addressed recruits on Feb. 27 and asked if the chiefs or an agency representative speak to student officers to see if they knew anything about this incident.
That same day the MPTC temporarily removed all staff instructors from their positions at the academy, the letter said. All instructors were replaced with people from another MPTC academy to “minimize any disruption to the student officers’ schedule.”
“The safety, well-being and ethical development of our recruits is our top priority,” the letter read. “We are reinforcing our policies, training and oversight to ensure that the highest standards of professional and accountability are upheld.”
The investigation is still ongoing.
