Two GPD officers complete intensive leadership and management program

​      Two Grinnell Police Department officers recently graduated from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC). Sgt. Matt Moore, second from left, and Sgt. Ben Smith, second from right, are joined by Sgt. Chris Wray, left, and Grinnell Police Chief Michael McClelland, right, at the graduation from the 10-week school on Jan. 20. The Northwestern University SPSC is an intensive leadership and management education program that helps prepare experienced law enforcement professionals for success in senior command positions. 

By J.O. Parker

      Two Grinnell Police Officers recently completed and graduated from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC) in Evanston, Ill.
       Sgt. Matt Moore and Sgt. Ben Smith with the GPD completed the course on Jan. 20.
     The Northwestern University SPSC is an intensive leadership and management education program that helps prepare experienced law enforcement professionals for success in senior command positions. 
      Through an innovative combination of academic principles with practical applications, the 10-week SPSC curriculum zeroes in on such critical command-level content as planning and policies, media relations, organizational behavior, budgeting and resource allocation, human resources, contemporary policing and more.
      Sgt. Smith, who has been with the GPD since 2017, was selected by his classmates to receive the class Kreml Leadership Award. The honor recognizes leadership principles of integrity, scholarship, and servitude to the class. The class votes for the award during week eight, and it was kept secret and not awarded until graduation. 
      The award is named for Franklin Martin Kreml, national expert on traffic safety, accident prevention and law enforcement. He is the founding Director of the Northwestern University Traffic Institute and was a University administrator for more than 35 years. The award is created in his name to honor his legacy.
      The officers were able to attend the program thanks to training funds from the City of Grinnell and a grant from 100 People Who Care Grinnell.
      “One of my big tenets is trying to get my officers training,” noted Grinnell Police Chief Michael McClelland. “Hopefully that will keep them in Grinnell.”
      Chief McClelland said he wasn’t surprised at the performance of both officers, saying that they will now be able to share their knowledge with the rest of the department.
     “Sgt. Smith has a military background and receiving the leadership award was not surprise to me,” Chief McClelland said. “They are both great leaders.”
     Sgt. Moore, who has been with the GPD since 2017 and in law enforcement since 2007, has worn a number of hats throughout his career including patrol officer, criminal investigator, LIDAR and RADAR instructor, standardized field sobriety instructor, field training officer, a partner with the Internet Crimes Against Children task force, along with many current roles as a night shift patrol sergeant.
   “It has been an honor and privilege to be selected by the Grinnell Police Department to attend Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command,” noted Sgt. Moore. “The training covered many topics including budgeting, grant writing, recruitment, organizational behavior, resource allocation, and human relations to cover a few. Law enforcement is an ever changing profession and I feel the class gave me a good foundation to help shape the future of the Grinnell Police Department.”
      “Northwestern University covered many relevant aspects of police supervision and management, which I am excited to get back and apply at the Grinnell Police Department,” said Sgt. Smith. “I am extremely grateful to the entire class for their help during the course and having voted for me for both Class President and the Kreml award. We grew very close as a class and I hope to maintain those relationships well into the future.”

​       Sgt. Ben Smith, who graduated from the Northwestern University School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC) on Jan. 20, was chosen as the class president and he also received the Kreml Leadership Award. The honor, which is named after Franklin Martin Kreml, national expert on traffic safety, accident prevention and law enforcement, recognizes leadership principles of integrity, scholarship, and servitude to the class.