SPEA hosts law enforcement leadership workshop
November 17, 2005
KOKOMO, Ind.—IU Kokomo's School of Public and Environmental Affairs (SPEA) conducted a leadership workshop for 35 officers of the Howard County Sheriff's Department and the Kokomo Police Department (KPD) on November 5 at the Kokomo City Hall.
Featured guest speakers were Craig Hartzer, Ph.D., director of the IU Executive Education Program at IUPUI, and Johnston Njoku, Ph.D., an associate professor of folk studies and anthropology for Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green.
Local presenters included IU Kokomo Professor of Public Affairs and Assistant Dean of SPEA Robert Dibie, Ph.D., Assistant Professor of Public Affairs Karl Besel, Ph.D., and SPEA Adjunct Lecturer and retired KPD Chief Thomas DiNardo.
Dibie said the workshop addressed leadership development principles, motivation of law enforcement staff, and setting a strategic vision for a police unit. The workshop also teaches senior law enforcement officers how to become transformational leaders. “Dr. Njoku presented a paper on how a police department that strives to achieve excellence in the delivery of criminal justice services will become a source of community pride,” Dibie said. Such departments commit themselves to “walking on water” when confronting community issues such as racial and cultural discrimination, Dibie said. “Officers of these departments will demonstrate excellent, outstanding performance without evidence of conflict of interest or any violation of professional code of ethics. Consequently, the public will feel more secure and safe.”
DiNardo spoke on the “quality dynamics” of productive police officers, which he defined as “typical behaviors and guiding principles those good officers live within.” These principles include integrity, servant-leadership, and competence as communicators and problem-solvers.
DiNardo praised the workshop as part of IU Kokomo's on-going efforts to “provide a number of good learning opportunities” for area law enforcement personnel. Several Kokomo city officers and Howard County deputies either have earned criminal justice degrees through IU Kokomo, or are currently taking classes there, he said.
DiNardo said that Robert Dibie, who became SPEA assistant dean this summer, is already “committed to building partnerships with all sectors of the community, and in particular, with those in public safety. Workshops like this are just the beginning of some very good university-community relationships.”
Providing technical support and mentoring to civil society groups is a major part of SPEA's service mission, Dibie said. “It fulfills the school's goal of public service as a commitment to the criminal justice, public sector and nonprofit professions, and to the 11 counties from which IU Kokomo draws its students,” Dibie said.
In an e-mail to Dibie, KPD Captain Thomas Kelley said his fellow officers appreciated the workshop. “Most of our folks agreed that your speakers were concise and informative and represented various and important aspects of leadership,” Kelley wrote. “Our officers were pleased that the university would invest in our agency and were glad to have the opportunity to meet with you.”
Groups interested in scheduling a “Leadership Workshop for their staff,” or SPEA's “Ethics in the Public and Nonprofit Sectors” workshop, can contact Dibie at (765) 455-9417 or rdibie@iuk.edu .
For information on SPEA's degree programs in criminal justice and public affairs, visit http://www.iuk.edu/spea .
