Two sheriff's sergeants graduate from Northwestern's police and command program

The Lake County sheriff's office has announced the recent graduation of Sgts. Gianni Giamberduca and Sara Balmes from Northwestern University's School of Police Staff and Command, Class 425.

Sheriff Mark Curran was invited to lead the Invocation and Benediction at the graduation and Milwaukee Chief of Police Edward Flynn was the keynote speaker for the graduation ceremony.

The 10-week School of Police Staff and Command program was held in Evanston at Northwestern University's Center for Public Safety. Since the program's inception in 1983, Northwestern University's Center for Public Safety has graduated tens-of-thousands of students both nationally and internationally. The program provides college-level instruction in a total of 27 core blocks of instruction during each session. The major study topics include leadership, human resources, employee relations, organizational behavior, applied statistics, planning and policy development, budgeting and resource allocation.

Balmes and Giamberduca along with their classmates, raised more than $7,100 as a legacy gift for Operation Shattered Stars. The nonprofit organization is dedicated to educating and assisting members of the law enforcement community to be protective of their mental health. Additionally, members of SPSC Class 425 gathered donations for Featherfist, a Chicago based nonprofit organization dedicated to giving "power and purpose" to those in the homeless community, including homeless veterans.

In addition to the SPSC graduation, Deputy Chief Michael Keller and Lt. Anthony Parisi were presented with Public Safety Executive Leadership Awards for successfully completing Northwestern University's School of Police Personnel, School of Police Staff and Command, and the Executive Management Program.

"Part of our 'raising the bar' at the Lake County sheriff's office is ensuring our personnel receive the best training possible," Curran said. "Over the past 10 weeks, Sgt. Giamberduca and Sgt. Balmes were challenged on academic, professional and leadership levels. Both sergeants learned new concepts and philosophies they will impart in those they supervise. I'm very proud of the academic achievements of Deputy Chief Keller, Lt. Parisi, Sgt. Balmes and Sgt. Giamberduca."