The Association was initially formed in the early 1980's. The first organizers included Trooper Stephen F. Byron of the Massachusetts State Police dive team and Lieutenant Eric Hahn of the Boston Police Harbor Patrol. An informational organization at its' inception, it later became a training facilitator.

In the beginning years, the Massachusetts Criminal Justice Training Council was sponsoring the Public Safety Diver series. This training was four weeks in length and brought a person from learning how to use a regulator in basic open water class to the level of rescue diver.

However, the MCJTC finally decided that they did not want the liability of training public safety divers and dropped the program. Once they did that, a void in training was created. The MPSDA decided that they would fill that void if they could.

It was clear that divers would still be used by departments to accomplish legitimate investigatory and rescue objectives. Some teams would be made up of recreational divers who never trained in proper public safety diver techniques. Others would be made up of professionals who sought out the necessary training on their own.

The MPSDA began its quest to ensure that public safety divers would have training options. Members of the Association who had been the original MCJTC instructors began teaching through the MPSDA to make sure that the information would get out. The endeavors continue to try to re-involve the MCJTC, but they are still adamant they do not want to train divers.

Today, we do a variety of tasks:

• Host programs by larger national training agencies such as the National Academy of Police Divers, Dive Rescue International, IADRS, and the like.

• Co-sponsor the annual Ice/Cold Water Rescue Conference conducted at the Natick Army Labs each winter.

• Have an ice safety video in a Public Service Announcement format available for distribution to cable TV stations, schools, service clubs, and any other forum by any public safety agency.

• Assess the current status of a department's team, and assist in developing a training plan.

• Assist a team in writing for grants, assessing and establishing the department's need for equipment, devising Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and other administrative assessments as needed.