Law Enforcement Officials Complete Advanced Education Program

ALBANY, NY (05/21/2007)(readMedia)-- Thirteen law enforcement officials who spent the last nine months studying a variety of criminal justice and management topics graduated Saturday from the New York State Law Enforcement Executive Institute (LEEI).

The institute, which was developed as a joint venture by the New York State Association of Chiefs of Police, New York State Sheriffs' Association, New York State Police, and the state Division of Criminal Justice Services, was created to enable current and future law enforcement executives to develop their own personal leadership competencies to influence positive change in accomplishing the agency's mission and reinforcing its core values.

Since September, officials selected for the program have taken part in weekend classroom sessions and computer-based distance learning. The curriculum, developed in conjunction with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice, combined college-level learning with practical application in such areas as legal issues, human resources, ethics, communications, strategic planning, budget and finance, leadership theory, contemporary public safety issues and statistics/research methods. Graduates completed extensive reading and writing assignments, case studies, oral presentations, group projects, and a final comprehensive research project.

The Law Enforcement Executive Institute is among myriad training programs operated out of the DCJS Office of Public Safety. For the first quarter of this year, the Office of Public Safety has conducted 25 training courses for 1,116 officers. The most popular training courses offered the first quarter included: Search Warrants Training (264 officers) and Legal Issues for New York Law Enforcement Officers (194 officers).

DCJS Commissioner Denise E. O'Donnell and Deputy Commissioner Dr. Cedric L. Alexander are dedicated to offering as diverse a training program as possible to as many officers as possible.

"We are committed to ensuring that police officers in New York are the best trained in the nation, continuing a longstanding tradition of excellence in this state," Commissioner O'Donnell said. "Our training programs are timely, current and responsive to the changing needs of our law enforcement officers."

New York was the first state in the country to develop a law enforcement accreditation program. In 2006, the DCJS Office of Public Safety trained over 6,600 officers in such subject areas as street gangs, narcotics interdiction, crime scene evidence collection, intelligence collection, homicide investigation, the tracing of hidden assets, and human trafficking. In addition, 118 law enforcement agencies have been accredited so far this year.

Graduating Saturday from the LEEI were:

-- Captain David Burpee - White Plains Police Department

-- Deputy Chief Daniel Chambers - University at Binghamton Police Department

-- Lieutenant Frank Edwards - Hempstead Police Department

-- Lieutenant Scott Florence - New York State Environmental Conservation Police

-- Captain Evelyn Mallard - New York State Police, Albany

-- Staff Inspector David McBath - New York State Police, Albany

-- Captain William Menge - New York City Department of Corrections

-- Lieutenant Brian Uhrmacher - Greece Police Department

-- Major James Szczesniak - Livingston County Sheriff's Office

-- Lieutenant Walter Teppo - New York State Police, Schenectady

-- Chief Robert Thomas - Fort Plain Police Department

-- Lieutenant Egidio Tinti - Kingston Police Department

-- Captain James Voutour - Niagara County Sheriff's Office

(A digital graduating class photograph is available upon request)

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