In 1985, a former neighborhood school in Hyde Park, MA. was rededicated as the Deputy Superintendent William J. Hogan Law Enforcement Training Center. In this academic setting, the Boston Police Department provides basic courses for recruit officers, promotional classes for detectives and supervisors, and seminars for the Citizens Police Academy.

Today, the curriculum of the academy prepares officers with practical training in Patrol Procedures, CPR, Defensive Tactics, Defense Driving, and the Use of Force. It also enhances education about the expanding role of police with an array of Constitutional Law, Criminal Law, Ethics, Domestic Violence, Racism, Anti-Semitism, Prejudice, Civil Rights and Neighborhood Policing courses. The mission of the Boston Police Academy is to provide people with unique instruction merged with innovative teaching methods of Facing History and Ourselves, and to promote the knowledge, values and skill police officers need in the democracy they are called upon to preserve and protect.