Staff Reports

Two Madison Police Department officers recently completed an extensive leadership training course in Athens.
Sgt. Colin Campbell and Det. Wes Thompson, both Madison Police Department veterans, were recently awarded a certificate of completion from the Leadership in Police Organizations training course. The course, hosted by the Athens-Clarke County Police Department, was offered in conjunction with the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
According to a press release issued by the International Association of Chiefs of Police, the training model "is based on a leadership curriculum that originated at the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. through the efforts of Army officers who served in the (military academy's) department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership and experienced police administrators, this civilian version of the course was created."
The release said the course is "based on the tenets of dispersed leadership which reflect documented best practices in the public and private sectors, the military and the justice system."
"It is rooted in community-oriented policing theory and addresses leadership as an agency-wide concept, reaching all ranks and positions."
The three week course "provides the opportunity for law enforcement and public safety personnel to train together in the classroom."

Printed in the November 15, 2012 edition