The Tufts University Police Department (TUPD) in May promoted six officers in its Medford and Boston offices to the rank of corporal.
The promotions leave the department with the most corporals the department has ever had at once, according to Sgt. Robert McCarthy.
Capt. Mark Keith explained that the promotions, four of which came on Tufts' Medford/Somerville campus, came about as a result of officers leaving the department and other corporals having been promoted to supervisor positions over recent years.
"The last several corporals that we've had have eventually been promoted into the supervisory ranks," Keith said. "As they have been promoted to sergeant over the first few years, we've had the corporal ranks replaced, and we did that in one fell swoop this summer."
Senior Director of Public Safety John King said that the promoted TUPD members all demonstrated a level of responsibility that made them suitable for the new role.
"All of the people who were promoted have been with the university for several years," King said. "We're trying to broaden the amount of individuals that we have in our department for what we call lead-person abilities."
The increased pool of corporals allows them to specialize, which corporals have not been able to do before.
"All of these corporals have particular skills or additional responsibilities we've assigned to them to, such as crime prevention or sexual assault," King said.
Having these specialties, King said, will prepare corporals for an expanded role at Tufts down the road.
"Recognition for special-assignment areas will give them an opportunity to grow and develop and be considered for future opportunities at the university," King said.
Corporals get "a little bump" in their salaries, but Keith said TUPD did not have to increase its budget to cover costs. In fact, according to King, the transition could cut down on costs because corporals can fill in for supervisors.
"The hope is that the increase in corporals will actually save the university some money," King said.
As an added benefit, King said, operations in the department are running more smoothly with the wider pool of corporals who can substitute for supervisors. They are better suited to be on duty than an outside supervisor hired for the day.
In total, there are about 41 TUPD officers across Tufts' three campuses, including one captain each in TUPD's Medford and Boston offices and 10 sergeants and seven corporals overall. The rest are simply dubbed officers.
To preempt some of the vacancies left by the promotions, the department moved two dispatchers to officer positions in March. King said that the department has since hired new members to fill the dispatcher roles.
New officers go through a rigorous training process before taking on their positions at TUPD. After their promotions in March, the two trained at a police academy, from which they graduated in September.
According to King, the academy program consisted of 26 weeks of full-time work with another 1,000 hours of training and nearly 39 examinations and exercises. Graduation was held at Faneuil Hall, with officers' family members pinning badges on the newly conferred officers. When they start work at TUPD, they also field-train with another officer before they can patrol alone.
Officers must undergo this added training at Tufts because the new role necessitates a greater understanding of the campus infrastructure, King said.
"They need to be introduced to all their campuses and be aware of the geography of the buildings and alarm systems," King said. "These are things you wouldn't learn at the academy. It takes several months."
