Two Rutherford County Sheriff's Office supervisors studied budgets, leadership and command during the 10-week Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command course.

Capt. David Hailey of the Criminal Investigations Division and Sgt. Mark Sharp of the School Resource Officer Division graduated from the course at the Tennessee Highway Patrol in Nashville.

Supervisors from the Sheriff's Office, Murfreesboro, Smyrna and La Vergne Police, Tennessee and other states completed the class. Other topics included allocation of department resources, officer wellness, media relations, grants, traffic analysis, employee interviews and problems, officer retention and family issues with law enforcement.

The supervisors earned college credit for the course.

Capt. Hailey earned a $5,000 scholarship awarded by Bethel University.

Sheriff Robert Arnold said Bethel has awarded scholarships to the Rutherford County Sheriff's Office. Deputies Chris Beach and Jimmy Tedder earned the scholarships for achieving the top academic scores of their classes at the Tennessee Law Enforcement Training Academy.

Capt. Hailey wrote a study paper on implementing a crime scene technician for the Sheriff's Office while Sgt. Sharp wrote about implementing a physical fitness program.

Sgt. Sharp said many of the departments shared similar issues of technology, growth and stricter hiring guidelines.

Capt. Hailey said he can network with other supervisors who attended the classes.

"At this stage of my career, the class taught how I can move into a more administrative role with managing budgets, personnel and resource allocation," Capt. Hailey said.

Other Sheriff's Office supervisors who graduated from the Northwestern classes in the past were SRO Lt. Brad Harrison, Patrol Lt. Ty Downing, Detective Lt. Britt Reed and Detective Sgt. Dan Goodwin. Patrol Deputy Laura Williams graduated from the class when she was a supervisor at Smyrna Police Department.