Jacksonville State University is establishing Southeastern Leadership Command College for law enforcement personnel.
The Command College will be housed in JSU’s Center for Best Practices in Law Enforcement and will be open to any Alabama police officer who holds the rank of sergeant or above, providing professional development while also grooming sergeants and lieutenants for leadership roles.
Plans for the establishment of Command College have been in the works for a few years, but the timeline was accelerated after a delegation from the university visited the Law Enforcement Institute of Texas at Sam Houston State University last fall.
“The LEMIT institute is a model program in the country for providing advanced training opportunities to law enforcement leaders,” said Kaleb Littlejohn, director of the JSU Center for Best Practices in Law Enforcement. “Meeting with LEMIT encouraged us to design a program to help officers gain the skills and resources needed to better lead a department or unit within a department.”
The JSU program curriculum will focus on general management and leadership principles, including public policy, laws and regulations, the social environment of police management and law enforcement administration. Course credit will be available in the future for those who plan to pursue advanced degrees, pending approval from the Alabama Commission on Higher Education and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.
Law enforcement personnel can begin enrolling in January 2024, and the program will be free to sworn law enforcement officers in Alabama. Officers located outside the state may apply but will incur a small fee for meals and lodging.
