Law enforcement officials from across New York have gathered in Saratoga Springs for a week-long training session to learn leadership skills and new techniques to assist in running their local departments.
The training organized by the The New York State Division of Criminal Justice Services, in partnership with the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, is designed to help chiefs and sheriffs foster leadership in their departments.
More than 32 agencies from across the state are taking part in the program developed by the International Association of Chiefs of Police.
Michael Wood, Deputy Commissioner of the New York State Department of Criminal Justice Services, says the program is intended to assist police leadership of all levels of experience.
“People will make supervisor in police organizations, depending on they’re big or small, and then the formalized training stops thereafter. So this could by for establish chiefs, it could be for new chiefs, and it covers a broad spectrum of leadership techniques; how to build consensus in groups, followership, all kinds of different things from goal setting to expectancy.”
The Leadership in Police Organization Training is touted as using behavioral science in its method of addressing change and leading teams.
Oneida County sheriff Robert Maciol said he’s picked up a few tips from the training.
“I can give you a million different examples, but the old style of ‘I’m the boss and we’re doing it this way, that’s it, no questions asked,’ that’s not the most effective way to lead. We want our people to not only love their job but we want our people to serve the community in the best fashion that they possibly can.”
The week’s agenda covers everything from recruiting and supervision to community outreach and impartial policing.
Saratoga Springs police chief Greg Veitch said another benefit is being able to meet with all the different department leaders.
“A lot of it comes from the instructors, but a lot of it comes also form the other chiefs in the room. They did an exercise and discovered that were over a thousand years of experience in the room. And that really helps a chief who may be dealing with a particular issue locally, that has been dealt with somewhere else that they have no experience with, and they can kind of learn from others.”
While the main purpose of the training is to focus on people running the police agencies, Veitch said what’s learned ultimately will affect all levels of a department.
“At the end of the day, we’re all looking to improve our agencies, and that means improving leadership up and down the organizations, from ourselves, who are the executives and the command staff, all the way down to our first line sergeants and often times right to the officers themselves,” said Veitch.
Deputy Commissioner Wood said the training is provided to law enforcement agencies at no cost to them.
“If you have to send someone for three weeks to Indianapolis on three different trips, it’s cost prohibitive, in addition to tuition. So the state’s investment in this, from a financial standpoint, is also huge.”
Follow-up training will also be offered in the spring at no charge.
