For Immediate Release: 9/6/2017
Janine Kava | janine.kava@dcjs.ny.gov
Justin Mason | justin.mason@dcjs.ny.gov
Press Office, Division of Criminal Justice Services | (518) 457-8828
New York State offers leadership training to law enforcement
Series of courses aimed at helping ranking officers become more effective leaders
Class today in Monroe County part of an initiative to offer leadership skills at no cost to local agencies
The state Division of Criminal Justice Services today launched its Leadership Training Initiative, offering the first in a series of 13 courses designed to help law enforcement executives and supervisors develop and refine leadership skills to meet the demands of modern policing. More than 90 police professionals from 40 agencies in Central and Western New York, the Finger Lakes and the Southern Tier attended the day-long training, which is designed to provide supervisors with practical strategies they can employ to help improve agency morale, accountability and performance.
“There’s no understating the value of effective law enforcement training, especially when it’s geared toward those officers in leadership roles," said Michael C. Green, executive deputy commissioner of the Division of Criminal Justice Services. “Yet the training options available for commanding officers are often limited, which is why this course and others being offered around the state through this initiative are so important. Our hope is that this top-down approach toward cultivating leadership skills will help police agencies to operate more effectively and further improve public safety within their communities.”
Made possible through a $250,000 federal grant, the Leadership Training Initiative features the most comprehensive series of leadership courses ever offered by the Division of Criminal Justice Services. Courses range in length from one day to three weeks, with some designed for specific audiences: women in police leadership roles and individuals who work in local corrections, for example. Roughly 1,500 officers statewide are expected to be trained through March 2018.
Law enforcement training is a key function of the Division of Criminal Justice Services, with the agency providing courses in topics ranging from homicide and child abuse investigation to offer safety and suicide prevention. On average, the agency provides nearly 400 courses attended by 20,000 professionals from police departments, sheriffs' offices, probation departments and district attorneys' offices.
Last year, the Division of Criminal Justice Services partnered with the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police to offer Leadership in Police Organization, the flagship leadership training offered by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, to 36 officers from 19 local police departments and seven sheriff’s offices, in addition to the New York State Police and State University of New York Police. The positive response from police executives about that training - which will be offered again this fall - prompted the agency to create the Leadership Training Initiative.
All courses are available at no cost to local agencies. Bulletproof Leadership – the course offered in Monroe County today – and four others are being offered in multiple locations across the state to reach as many professionals as possible and reduce travel expenses.
Developed and taught by Ron Glidden, a former Massachusetts police chief who is a nationally recognized leadership trainer, Bulletproof Leadership provides strategies designed to help police leaders minimize negative interactions between the officers they supervise and the public, reduce coworker conflict, hold subordinates accountable for unacceptable behavior and to build trust within their agency. The training is certified by the International Association of Directors of Law Enforcement Standards and Training - an organization of training managers and executives dedicated to the professional development of public safety personnel – as part of its National Certification Program. The day-long training also will be offered in Albany, Poughkeepsie and Utica.
Officers from the following agencies received training:
Central New York: Camillus Police.
Finger Lakes: Brighton Police, Canandaigua Police, Gates Police, Geneseo Police, Geneva Police, Greece Police, Irondequoit Police, Livingston County Sheriff, Public Safety Training Facility at Monroe Community College, Ontario County Sheriff, Orleans County Probation, Rochester Institute of Technology Public Safety, Rochester Police, Seneca County Sheriff, Seneca Falls Police, SUNY Police at Genesee Community College, University of Rochester Department of Public Safety, Wayne County Probation, Yates County Sheriff' Office.
Southern Tier: Chemung County Probation, Corning Police, Steuben County Sheriff.
Western New York: Cattaraugus County Sheriff, Erie County Probation, Evans Police, Genesee County Sheriff, Niagara County Sheriff, Niagara County Probation, Niagara Falls Police, North Tonawanda Police, Perry Police, SUNY Police at Alfred, SUNY Police at Buffalo, Wellsville Police.
Statewide: New York State Police and police from the following state agencies: Department of Corrections and Community Supervision, Department of Environmental Conservation Police, and Park Police.
The Division of Criminal Justice Services (www.criminaljustice.ny.gov) is a multi-function criminal justice support agency with a variety of responsibilities, including law enforcement training; collection and analysis of statewide crime data; maintenance of criminal history information and fingerprint files; administrative oversight of the state’s DNA databank, in partnership with the New York State Police; funding and oversight of probation and community correction programs; administration of federal and state criminal justice funds; support of criminal justice-related agencies across the state; and administration of the state’s Sex Offender Registry.
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