Entry-level police cadet program

Section 59B. (a) Notwithstanding any general or special law to the contrary, the administrator may authorize an appointing authority to establish an entry-level police cadet program leading to civil service tenure. The cadet program shall be established by the appointing authority, in accordance with basic merit principles and section 21A of chapter 147, except that a person appointed as a police cadet shall not be required to reside in the municipality making the appointment and may be of any age once the person's eighteenth birthday has transpired. Cadet program requirements shall be approved by both the administrator and an authorized designee of the municipal police training committee established in section 116 of chapter 6. A cadet shall not be subject to or entitled to the benefits of any retirement or pension law nor shall any deduction be made from their compensation for the purpose thereof, but a cadet who satisfies all prerequisites for appointment to the police force of a city or town, and is appointed as a permanent full-time police officer, shall have their police cadet service considered as creditable service for purposes of retirement; provided, that the person pays into the annuity savings fund of the retirement system such amount as the retirement board determines equal to that which they would have paid had they been a member of the retirement system during the period of training as a police cadet. (b) A cadet may be appointed to fill a vacancy in a position in the lowest grade of a municipal police force through a cadet appointment without certification from an eligible list. In order to maintain cadet-appointment status, the cadet shall pass a qualifying exam and be a member in good standing in the appointing authority-sponsored cadet program for a time period specified by the administrator but not less than 12 months. Upon successful completion of the cadet program and contingent upon graduation from a police academy approved by the municipal police training committee, the appointing authority may effectuate a civil service appointment of the cadet to the permanent police force through notification to the administrator. The appointee shall then serve the probationary period specified in section 61 before gaining tenure status. The appointing authority shall report in writing to the administrator any such permanent original appointment.