June 2018
News about our newsletter
We are very pleased to announce that this month’s newsletter will feature what we hope to be the first of many short articles related to criminal justice. This month’s article is on leadership and is written by the Academy’s very own Laurie Austen who works at our Eastern Campus in Salemburg. We hope you find this article and future articles useful and informative. If you are interested in submitting an article for the newsletter, please email Michael Cummings (mcummings@ncdoj.gov) or Jeffrey R. Zimmerman (jzimmerman@ncdoj.gov). Articles should be no more than 1,000 words.
Training Catalog for July 1, 2018 – June 30, 2019
We wanted you to know that our new training dates are now available for July 2018 to June 2019. To view the classes on our website, visit: http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/Courses-Offered-by-NCJA.aspx.
Registration for ALL our classes is on our portal: https://ncja-portal.acadisonline.com.
2020 In-Service Training Topics
Yes, really we are working on 2020 and we want your suggestions. Topic suggestions are greatly appreciated and become a vital part of the topic approval process. Please complete this survey to give us your input: https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/2020inservicetopics
Annual General Instructor Update Training Course
2018 General Instructor Update: Criminal Justice Instructional Leadership –
Don’t forget, if you are an instructor, you must take this one-hour online course to keep your certification. To register for the course, go to the NC Justice Academy Training Portal.
New (or added) Courses since our Training Catalog with Openings
If you are interested in learning about new courses that have been added or to discover which classes still have openings, please click on the link below:
http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/Course-Offerings-(A-Z).aspx
2018 In-Service Courses Available Online
We have several of the 2018 in-service topics available online, and more courses will be added each month. For a complete list of online courses, go to http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/acadisonline.aspx.
To register for a course, go to NC Justice Academy Training Portal and follow the directions. These 2018 In-service Courses are currently available online:
- 2018 Strategies to Improve Law Enforcement Interactions and Relationships with Minority Youth (LE)
- 2018 Equality in Policing (LE)
- Law Enforcement Intelligence Update (LE)
- Officer Safety: Surviving Planned Attacks Against Law Enforcement Officers (LE)
- Detention Intelligence Update )Det)
- Equality in Detention Practices (Det)
- Equality in Policing (Tele)
- Law Enforcement Intelligence Update (Tele)
This Month’s Featured Article:
“Leadership Models in Law Enforcement: Military v. Business”
By: Laurie Austen, Training Manager, NCJA East (Salemburg)
In many law enforcement leadership courses, the military-style or “model” of leadership takes center stage. Long acknowledged as “para-military” by nature, law enforcement organizations have embraced the military culture, specifically when it comes to leadership.
Law enforcement organizations may benefit from looking to corporate America. As the tide turns and our appearance is more closely watched through the media lens, is the association with the military model of leadership appropriate in this day and time for police agencies, or are there other options? During Barack Obama’s Presidency, we saw an end to the acquisition of military surplus equipment for law enforcement. With the change in tide, President Trump returned that option for law enforcement agencies and the availability to access this surplus. What picture does this paint for our nation? Are all these mass-casualty incidents placing us in a near state of war?
Maybe the dynamics of law enforcement have truly changed. We are struggling with the public face that our agencies have, and we are finding that it may not be best to look and act like the military. Maybe it is time for a more professional policing. The days of BDUs and combat boots may need to take a backseat. What have anti-law enforcement protests taught us? Does the scrutiny that we face from our communities dictate our responses? What impact is the media making on how we conduct our business?
How do we win public trust? If we look at sheriffs in North Carolina, this may paint an important picture. Every four (4) years they must be elected. They have to “persuade” their constituents that they are right for the job. Police chiefs, on the other hand, are selected in a process that is much smaller and doesn’t always have the political impact that the sheriffs face, at least in North Carolina, when you are dealing with smaller agencies.
Looking at leadership from a historic perspective, we can see the evolution of theory. Early leadership theory was based on the premise of the “Great Man”. It was the leader that was a great person. He was born to lead. The skills for leadership were inherent in the “man.” Following this phase, the next direction that leadership assumed was that of the “Big Bang” theory. This theory focused on the basis that leaders came from their involvement in some major events. Being at a particular time and place perpetuated leadership.
In the 1940s-50s, leadership was measured by leadership “traits.” Leaders had specific traits that made them great. These personal traits, when put to task, showed the ability to lead. Following the “trait” theory, behavior theory came into play. By examining effective and ineffective leaders, behaviors could be identified that directly impacted a leader’s ability to lead. The great divisor of behavior theory was the ability to determine which option was best to follow; task orientation or relationship orientation in leading people. The behavioral theory of leadership was an approach that yielded two avenues. One avenue was the focus of the leader on the work to be done. The second avenue was the importance of the relationship with the followers. Which avenue was more important? Tasks or relationships?
In the 1970s-80s, leadership theory again found a dichotomy, situational leadership versus contingency leadership. The situational leader must adjust his strategy to the situation at hand. Contingency theory suggests that you match leaders with good personal relations with a poorly structured task environment. You will use the leaders who are more impersonal with a well- structured task environment.
Since the 1980s, there have been a number of integrated theories that combine and contrast models of leadership. So, when we ask today “what model of leadership should we be teaching the future law enforcement leaders?”, I have to respond that there is validity in each model of leadership. I propose that we ask ourselves a few more questions in clarifying our future directions.
Does police leadership require one clear strategy for leading? Does the military premise for dealing with war suggest that this model works well from a baseline of careful plotting strategy? Contemplating strategies as the approach may have negative connotations with regard to an adversarial perspective.
Another issue that must be explored is the dynamism of the leader. Does the leader have the ability to adapt to change and continue the forward momentum of the agency? Issues change, but being forward-thinking or having the ability to adapt to change is an important trait for a leader. Agency mission statements and goals must be taken into account. Just because the leadership changes, does that mean that the agency’s mission and goals must also change? Could the approach or strategy that an agency selects still accomplish the same needs of the community?
And just a few more thoughts for you to consider. We need to understand who we are particularly with regard to our communities at a particular point in time. Are we in conflict with the community based on media information? Do sheriffs’ elections create competition? Are we responding to a life or death situation that an officer or community member may be facing? Are we a small piece of the community that is in the role of providing services at many different levels in addition to law enforcement services?
Is it black and white, or can we move into the gray? I think there is room for both perspectives. I think we need to be flexible and take the best parts of the military model and the business model when we evaluate leadership training.
1 Tim A. Mau and Alexander Wooley, “An Integrative Model for Assessing Military
Leadership,” Canadian Military Journal 7, no. 2 (Summer 2006): accessed April 16, 2018,
http://www.journal.forces.gc.ca/vol7/no2/wooley-eng.asp. p. 3.
2 Ibid., 4.
3 Ibid., 4.
Employee Spotlight for the May 2018 Newsletter:
Amit Sujanani, Administrative Specialist I, NCJA West Campus (Edneyville)
After being born oversees, I was raised in China before coming to the United States in my teen years with my parents, where we became citizens. I completed my Bachelor’s Degree at the University of South Florida and immediately wanted to go into the Peace Corps. Unfortunately, that was smack in the middle of the 9/11 crisis, and it wasn’t to be. So I continued on with my education, keeping my eye on public service. I earned two Master’s Degrees from Western Carolina University, one in Human Resources and one in Business Administration. It was there that I met the love of my life, Regina.
With those degrees, I worked in Arizona for an organization that sought to assist those with challenges in finding a “Bridge to Independent Living.” I returned to North Carolina to assist an ailing family member, and from there, went to Michigan to attend law school. While attending, I continued my public service by working for the City Council and the Public Sector Law Clinic. I then completed my law school education by completing an externship for the Honorable Judge Robert Rigsby at the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. It was then that I began my search for a wonderful job in public service, where I could use my education and skills to help in every way possible. NC DOJ/Justice Academy was the perfect fit, and I accepted the position and haven’t looked back! I love the people we serve and truly care for all of those I work for and with at the Academy. NCJA Strong!!!
Job Postings
Our Job Bank webpage is one of our most viewed pages. To see current job openings, click on this link: http://ncja.ncdoj.gov/Job-Bank.aspx. If your agency has job openings, please complete the “Job Posting Template” and we will be glad to advertise it for you on our website.
Positions Available at the Academy:
Instructor/Developer- CJ Training Coordinator, Interview & Interrogation; General Instructor Training
Link to job posting: https://www.governmentjobs.com/careers/northcarolina/jobs/2078887/instructor-developer-cj-trng- coor-interview-interrogation-general- instructor?department[0]=Dept%20of%20Justice&sort=PositionTitle%7CAscending&page=2&page type=jobOpportunitiesJobs
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Please feel free to call or email me with your suggestions for training. We are here for you! 910-525-4151 x210
Trevor Allen, Director
