Leadership Profile: NAGE Local 700 Member Charles LeClerc
Massachusetts court officers face potentially dangerous situations in their courtrooms every day. But thanks to the work of a group of court officers with specialized physical tactics training, every CO can learn safe, effective ways to handle—or even head off—such confrontations. Charlie LeClerc, an assistant chief court officer in Wrentham District Court, is the physical tactics coordinator for the entire Trial Court system and part of the Trial Court's special response team.
Three years ago, Trial Court Director of Security and Training John Monahan asked LeClerc, a longtime physical tactics instructor to develop a program to teach other court officers how to handle dangerous courthouse situations safely. The two dozen court officers who serve as instructors practice in regionalized squads once a month, then share their skills with court officers in training sessions across the Commonwealth.
"I've been a police officer, I've been a correctional officer, and I'll tell you, the court officer job is the toughest job of the three," said LeClerc, who's been teaching martial arts for 28 years in addition to his public safety work. "It's the most unique job in law enforcement because of the volatility every day, especially in lockup. It's probably the most dangerous spot in any city on any day. Kudos to our court officers for the number of things that DON'T happen, given the high number of people we deal with every day."
In the training program, instructors use police techniques derived from a variety of martial arts to teach COs how to subdue a violent person with minimal injury to anyone involved. Thanks to the support of Mass. Police Training Council state director Dave Standen, the team members are all certified physical tactics instructors, ensuring a consistent high level of quality, safe instruction. They place a special emphasis on defusing potentially dangerous situations before they erupt.
"It's all based on the use of force continuum," LeClerc told NAGE. "We teach every CO to go along that continuum. When you get to work, you're strategic; you acknowledge the occupational accepted risk. Then you're tactical: know your defendant, what he's capable of, and prepare yourself in case the situation becomes harmful. And if you can communicate, you're going to be a good court officer. There's nothing better than a court officer who can de-escalate a situation."
LeClerc is a big believer in consistent teaching methods, including teaching COs what to do after an incident.
"Everything we do in training is consistent throughout the state," said LeClerc. "Standardization of the training program helps COs with their actions in an incident and with reports afterwards, so that they can help management understand every single step of what happened."
And how have COs responded to the training?
"I've been teaching for 28 years and there's never been a problem," LeClerc said. "There's a feeling out period the first five minutes, and then when we prove we're high-quality instructors there to help them, the court officers are 100 percent positive."
LeClerc and a hand-picked team of trained court officers also function as a special response team deployed across the Commonwealth as needed to assist other COs in especially high-risk situations. One such situation was the 2008 trial in Suffolk Superior Court of Che Sosa. Sosa allegedly stabbed his lawyer in the neck with a homemade plastic knife during another trial in Norfolk Superior Court in 2007. (Sosa was convicted of rape in that trial and sentenced to 55 years in prison.) When Sosa had to appear in Suffolk Superior Court for trial on another rape charge the following year, LeClerc and the SRT joined Suffolk COs in keeping the courtroom violence-free. (Sosa was shackled to a 250-pound chair during that trial and was eventually convicted and sentenced to another 35-40 years, to be served after the previous sentence.)
NAGE thanks Charlie LeClerc, the physical tactics trainers, and the members of the special response team for their professionalism and dedication to their fellow court officers.