Cohasset earns grant for police training

COHASSET – The Town of Cohasset was awarded a $5,452 grant from the Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association, the town's property and casualty insurance provider, to fund safety and risk management activities and equipment.

Cohasset used the grant funds to provide a series of trauma-informed crisis prevention courses for police officers. The four, four-hour training sessions on Trauma-Informed Crisis Prevention, De-escalation and Recovery, covered crisis prevention, person-centered communications, scene safety, crisis de-escalation strategies, rapport building, and reflective debriefing.

"This trauma-informed training was funded by a MIIA grant and supported the police department's goal of providing officers with advanced, evidence-based skills for de-escalating and successfully resolving crisis situations without the use of force," Chief William Quigley of the Cohasset Police Department said. "This type of training is invaluable to our department, and we thank MIIA along with the Town for helping to make this training a reality."

According to the U.S. Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, trauma-informed criminal justice responses can help law enforcement to prevent re-traumatizing individuals – increasing safety for everyone involved. For the 2023 fiscal year, MIIA awarded $1 million to fund over 180 grant requests from members for public safety activities and equipment.

"Cohasset's partnership with MIIA continues to pay dividends," said Town Manager Christopher Senior. "This grant equips our Police Officers with the right tools, techniques and methods to better serve our community. It's another example of the innovative ways we are preparing our Police Department to meet the challenges they face every day."

Municipalities were able to conduct safety trainings, procure safety equipment, purchase infrared cameras and security equipment for schools and thermography cameras for public works departments, among many other initiatives.

The Massachusetts Interlocal Insurance Association is the nonprofit insurance arm of the Massachusetts Municipal Association. As a member-based organization, MIIA's focus is to provide excellent service and quality risk management solutions to nearly 400 cities, towns, and other public entities in Massachusetts. For more information please visit https://www.emiia.org/and www.mma.org.