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NOPD Commander Headed to FBI Academy in Quantico for Specialized Leadership Training

by Dawne Massey

January 5, 2017

Categories: On the Beat

Topics: Police Training

NOPD Commander Headed to FBI Academy in Quantico for Specialized Leadership Training

Commander Otha Sandifer has been selected to participate in a comprehensive course of study at the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia. The program, which attracts national and international law enforcement personnel, is offered by invitation only and participants must be nominated in order to attend.

 

Sandifer, NOPD’s Commander of Compliance and policy implementation of the Consent Decree, will be one of 250 law enforcement leaders to attend the National Academy program this quarter.

 

Sandifer says he’s excited about the opportunity to attend the 10-week-long program, which features coursework on such topics as the terrorist mindset, communication, behavioral science, health/fitness forensic science, law, and leadership development.

 

“I’m looking forward to challenging myself academically as well as physically,” said Sandifer. “I want to attend this program because of the educational opportunity and the intensity of the curriculum. It will help me develop as a leader.”

 

In addition to the educational aspect, the program will put participants through their paces physically. At the end of the 10-week program, participants take part in a unique fitness challenge. Developed by the U.S. Marine Corps, “The Yellow Brick Road” is a grueling run that will force participants to test their physical limits.

 

“It’s a 6.1 mile run and obstacle course that has us running through woods, scaling walls, crawling through creeks, running up hills – it’s tough but I’m looking forward to the challenge.”

 

Intensive training such as this one is important in developing NOPD officers who plan to make a career out of policing and keep moving the department forward.

 

“Most of the opportunities I’ve had to develop leadership skills have come on the job,” said Sandifer. “Training like this helps set a real path for professionalism and integrity, plus I can make connections with 15,000+ individuals who have been a part of this training as future resources. I’m hoping to test myself and grow as a leader and learn from others on a national and an international level.”

 

In addition to the FBI Academy, NOPD is sending additional members of the department’s leadership to specialized training classes this year.

 

Lt. Jennifer Dupree (Second District) and Lt. Lejon Roberts (Fifth District) will be attending the School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC) at Northwestern University this spring.  The SPSC prepares law enforcement managers for senior positions by combining academic principles with practical applications.

 

NOPD Commanders Lawrence Dupree (Seventh District), Ronnie Stevens (Sixth District), Doug Eckert (Criminal Investigation Division) and Nicholas Gernon (Eighth District) will attend sessions of the Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP) in Boston this summer. The SMIP brings together leading thinkers in corporate and public management to provide intensive training designed to give police managers the same quality of management education available to leaders in other public and private-sector endeavors. NOPD Deputy Chiefs Paul Noel and John Thomas completed the SMIP training in 2016.

 

“Training and continuing the education of our leadership is a critical piece in developing and maintaining a professional law enforcement agency in the 21st century,” said Superintendent Michael Harrison. “We are grateful to have the opportunity to send our command staff to such prestigious training programs and we’re honored to be selected to participate.”