Elgin police chief attends selective Harvard program

With discussions about how to judge a police department's success and how to allocate money with competing interests at stake, a Harvard University program is prompting Police Chief Jeff Swoboda to think critically about issues in Elgin, he said.

“It's about looking creatively at how to identify what the community sees as value,” Swoboda said of the three-week, senior executives in state and local government program by the John F. Kennedy School of Government, which he attended last month.

“How to deploy resources, how to be proactive versus being reactive.”

Key topics of the program, in which participants analyze real-life cases, include leadership, negotiations, public/private partnerships, cooperative governance, behavioral decision making and microeconomics.

The program took place Monday through Friday, with some night group study sessions and weekend team building activities. It cost $12,400, on the high end for police training, which is typically between $5,000 and $10,000, Swoboda said.

City Manager Sean Stegall, who attended it as assistant city manager in 2008, said the expense is well worth it.

“I think Jeff Swoboda is the most talented police chief in the country, and I think it's incredibly important that the city retain his services and make that investment in his development,” Stegall said.

Investing in leadership management skills, in turn, trickles down the ranks, Stegall said. “To maintain the best and the brightest, you have to continue to develop this skill set.”

Less than 10 percent of police chiefs who apply are admitted, program chairman David King said.

Other participants include state legislators, city managers, librarians, social services administrators, fire chiefs, state's attorneys, parks and recreation representatives, and a variety of others.

“The program is designed to create an ecosystem that reflects the challenges and opportunities back home,” King said. “Unlike most of the training programs out there, this one is not focused on a specific job.”

Analyzing issues from such varied perspectives was especially valuable, Swoboda said.

Discussions specific to law enforcement included racial power dynamics, the consequences of generational poverty, and how to leverage the resources of public libraries, Swoboda said. There were also discussions about policing and the gay and lesbian community in the wake of the June 12 mass shooting in Orlando, Florida, he said.

Swoboda said he plans to meet with police administrators next month and discuss specifics, including how to concretely apply some of what he learned.