News
One-of-a-kind police lieutenant’s leadership school starts
Dallas Police lieutenants Scott Walton (r) and Chris Albaugh talk during a break in the opening session of the Caruth Police Institute’s Lieutenant’s Leadership School being held at the Dallas Arboretum Sept. 14. Albaugh said his goal for taking the class was to become a better lieutenant and a better leader. The one-of-a-kind leadership program is a partnership between the University of North Texas at Dallas, UT Dallas and the Dallas Police Department.
DALLAS—A one-of-a-kind Lieutenant’s Leadership School organized by the W.W. Caruth Jr. Police Institute at the University of North Texas at Dallas started Sept. 14. Twenty-four Dallas Police Department lieutenants were selected for the Institute’s first major training program for the DPD which takes place this week at the Dallas Arboretum.
Robert Taylor, the Caruth Institute’s executive director, and Richard Smith, associate director for training and education, are teaching the six-week class. Taylor said the unique school—the only known program of its kind in the nation—is designed to provide advanced leadership training for a new generation of leaders for the DPD.
The class covers such topics as leadership management theories and techniques, legal issues in policing, and organizational change. “We are going to help improve your ability to think critically,” Taylor told students today.
The DPD already offers inservice training for current supervisory needs, Taylor said. “This training program prepares individuals for executive leadership positions and is the next step in preparing future DPD chiefs and deputy chiefs.”
“Improving leadership skills among DPD command staff will lead to a better police department and lower crime rates. Generally speaking, police officers that are exposed to strong leadership from their command staff are more capable of serving the needs of their community with fewer citizen complaints,” Taylor added.
“My hope is that we are preparing Dallas Police leaders, commanders and future chiefs that will benefit the community for the next several decades,” Dallas Police Chief David Kunkle said.
Dallas Police Lieutenant Chris Albaugh said his goal for taking the class was “to become a better lieutenant, a better leader, and to learn how to develop other leaders at every level, because in the ‘servant-leadership model’ there can’t be one person leading everyone. There needs to be other leaders leading the rest of the team.”
Taylor, Kunkle and Darrel Stephens, instructor in the Division of Public Safety Leadership at Johns Hopkins University and former police chief of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg (N.C.) Police Department, will lead a panel discussion on “Emerging Leadership Issues in Policiing” from 8:30 a.m.-10 a.m. Sept. 18. Stephens also will speak Sept. 17.
Applicants were asked to submit a personal statement on why they wanted to attend the leadership series, what their career goals are and how the leadership series will help them with their career goals.
Officers in the course can get academic credit toward a bachelor of science or master’s degree if they apply to UNT Dallas. The Institute also is working to get TCLEOSE (Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Officer Standards and Education) credit for the class.
The leadership program is a partnership between UNT Dallas, UT Dallas and the DPD. The Lieutenant’s Leadership School ends in February. A sergeant’s school will start in early spring.
The Caruth Institute was established by a $9.5 million gift from Communities Foundation of Texas. For more information about the class or the institute, contact the Caruth Police Institute at 214-671-3732.
For More Information:
David Porter
Associate Director of Marketing, News and Information
(972) 780-3663
David.Porter@unt.edu