CHIOPEE, Mass. - ​​The Chicopee Police Department and the Hampden County Sheriff’s Department will begin a new partnership as some Hampden County deputies will begin training under Chicopee police officers to gain more experience as peace officers.

Hampden County Sheriff Nick Cocchi, Chicopee Police Chief Patrick Major and Chicopee Mayor John Vieau said the training will help deputies respond to any type of call.

"In our line of work, we're inside the jail facilities," Cocchi said. "We don't do the patrols, so to get our marine patrol unit, deputies that have to have this specific level of trainin, we need to fill the specific training requirements and that is part of it to get the field training for the officers." 

Cocchi said the training will begin immediately with the Chicopee officers handling the bulk of the calls while gradually handing over most of the responsibilities to the trainees with supervision over the course of the program.

Cocchi said the conversation around proper policing has been a topic of discussion all over the community, so it's important to make sure that all officers are able to have the proper training needed to handle a variety of situations.

"About de-escalation, about understanding the mental health crises, the substance abuse crises that are out there," Cocchi said. "So to have a training program that brings you into those type of situations and then see how they all play out and how they're handled, it only gives that trainee the experience to do the job solo but correctly."

Cocchi said the training program will run for about 14 weeks. He said he hopes to train more Hampden County deputies through the Chicopee Police Department as their partnership continues to grow.