YAF News

Yesterday, December 6, 2022, YAF President and CEO, Marlies Spanjaard, testified at the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) Commission hearing to ask the Commission to require the Massachusetts Police Training Commission to collaborate with experts in education and juvenile law in the development of their School Resource Officer training program. This collaboration is legislatively mandated, but has not to our knowledge occured. Marlies cited concerns about racial and disability disparities in school arrest rates and implored the commission to ensure that if school resource officers are going to exist, that they need to be trained to understand implicit bias, child development, trauma and disability related conduct.

12/13/22 Update: Massachusetts Lawyers Weekly published an article describing the hearing that YAF CEO and President, Marlies Spanjaard spoke at last week. Marlies was one of several attorneys with expertise in juvenile justice that weighed in on the draft regulations the Massachusetts Peace Officer Standards and Training Commission had called the public hearing to discuss. The article gives a nice summary of what each agency in opposition to the regulations stated. Please click the button below to download and read the full article.