Police sgt. graduates from Northwestern's Center for Public Safety
LOMBARD, Illinois—Lombard Police Department's Sergeant William Marks recently graduated from the School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC) at Northwestern University.
Marks successfully completed the 10 week Staff and Command program held in Lisle, from September through January. This program, which was implemented by the Center for Public Safety in 1983, has graduated more than 14,000 students both nationally and internationally. Marks was a student in SPSC Class 320, which accommodated a total of 38 students for the 10 week period.
The School of Police Staff and Command provides upper-level college instruction in a total of 22 core or mandatory blocks of instruction and utilizes nine additional optional blocks of instruction during each session. The major topics of study include: Management and Management Theory, Organizational Behavior, Human Resources for Law Enforcement, Budgeting, Staffing Allocation and Personnel Deployment.
“It was very good experience,” said Marks. “I got to know officers from surrounding towns in DuPage County. The instructors were very informative and being from the Midwest area, they gave ideas on how their departments operate,” he added.
Each student is academically challenged through a total of 18 written examinations, projects and quizzes, in addition to two research papers that are a required part of the curriculum. Upon successful completion, students may be awarded a total of with units of undergraduate credit from Northwestern University.
The Center for Public Safety was established at Northwestern University in 1936 with the specific goal of expanding university-based education and training for the Law Enforcement Community. Since its inception, the Center has broadened its original objective and now provides a variety of courses and programs in the area of Police Training, Management Training and Executive Development.
“For me, the best part of the school was the strategic planning and management,” said Marks. “The message they taught was new information to me and I feel it will be very beneficial in my position at the police department,” he added.
The Lombard Police Department anticipates a variety of benefits from Marks' attendance at this program. Many of the program's graduates go on to achieve a variety of leadership positions within their respective agencies. Currently, more than 750 graduates hold the title of Chief of Police and 39 of the 50 Directors of State Police Agencies are also graduates of the program.