Murfreesboro, TN - Two Rutherford County Sheriff’s patrol supervisors graduated from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command.
Lt. Michael Rodgers and Sgt. David Alford completed the 10-week program.
Northwestern University described the course as “an intensive leadership and management education program that helps prepare experienced law enforcement professionals for success in senior command positions.”
Patrol Capt. Chris Kauffman said the school prepares Rodgers and Alford for the next level of management.
They learned administration where they will use the knowledge gained in managing budgets and line items, creating presentations for law enforcement related projects, understanding labor laws, managing various types of employees within the current climate of law enforcement today and management trends of the 21st century policing.
“I am extremely proud of Michael and David and their desire to move higher within the ranks at the Sheriff’s Office,” Kauffman said. “The skills they have learned will prove invaluable in time.”
Rodgers said students learned about statistics, resources allocation, leadership, legal issues, traffic management and training.
The most meaningful part was sharing and hearing other stories from officers from other agencies and hearing how they inspire their officers, talking with people from different perspectives and networking with other agencies, he said.
Students chose a research topic and wrote a paper. His topic was “Improving Communications within Law Enforcement Agencies.”
“It was meaningful to me to have done the same leadership training that so many other officers before me have done and others after me will do as well,” Rodgers said. “So many people who have gone through the course became chiefs and captains. I am proud to be part of that caliber of people.”
Alford said he believed the course was one of the best law enforcement classes he attended in his career.
He learned about management-type perspectives from the administrative point of view along the lines of budgets, resource allocations, employee growth and development, and leadership.
Alford hopes to implement are stronger leadership skills and career development tools for deputies on his shift by assisting them to set goals and achieve goals through training.
The course helped expand his view for performing his job by focusing on department goals and working more efficiently. He plans to make suggestions on how to make improvements.
“I am really grateful for the opportunity to attend the training,” Alford said. “It put a burden on the shift. It was absolutely an incredible experience and I am grateful for it. It surpassed other training and was top shelf.”
