The Mt. Juliet Police Department announced the recent graduation of Captain Tyler Chandler and Lieutenant James Cothron from the School of Police Staff and Command (SPSC) at Northwestern University. Both have successfully completed the 22-week Staff and Command program held in Evanston, Illinois, from May 1 to October 1, 2023. The program, implemented by the Center for Public Safety in 1983, has graduated over 21,000 students nationally and internationally. Capt. Chandler and Lt. Cothron were students in SPSC Class #549, accommodating 25 students for twenty-two weeks.
“SPSC and the FBI National Academy are two elite executive leadership schools sought out by law enforcement command staff worldwide. I’m proud of Capt. Chandler and Lt. Cothron on this accomplishment. Typically, students in this program step away from their full-time duties while completing the instruction, but Capt. Chandler and Lt. Cothron remain focused on their normal work duties while excelling in the program, which showed great determination,” stated Police Chief James Hambrick. “Their heart and dedication to our community and department are outstanding, and I’m grateful for their continued investment and leadership.”
The School of Police Staff and Command provides upper-level college instruction in twenty-seven core instruction blocks and additional optional blocks during each session. The major topics include leadership, human resources, employee relations, organizational behavior, applied statistics, planning and policy development, budgeting, and resource allocation. Each student is academically challenged through written examinations, projects, presentations, quizzes, and a staff study paper, which are all required parts of the curriculum.
The Center for Public Safety was established at Northwestern University in 1936 with the specific goal of expanding university-based education and training for the Law Enforcement Community. Since its inception, the Center has broadened its original objective and now provides a variety of courses and programs in the area of Police Training, Management Training, and Executive Development.
Capt. Chandler and Lt. Cothron are the 3rd and 4th department members to complete such a rigorous program. Lt. Cothron leads the Investigative Services Division, and Capt. Chandler will be sworn in as the Deputy Chief of Police next week after serving as Captain for many years.
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