The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 25, Number 1 | Page 23

The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | January 2019
NJSACOP
Command
25th Anniversary
&
Leadership
Program
Pioneers
Celebrate
A look back to the past….
In the early autumn of 1992, the New Jersey State Association of Chiefs of Police [NJSACOP] Training and Education
Committee undertook an association-wide needs analysis. The result was a strong consensus for development of a
quality command and leadership program for mid and upper level management personnel. Several options were
forwarded and discussed. As a result of this early work, two decisions were agreed upon. The first decision was that
the Association should take an active role in developing and sponsoring this program. The second was predicated to
seek the assistance of the United States Military Academy at West Point’s assistance in the development of such a
program based upon the Academy’s world renowned command and leadership education. Taking the lead in this
project was Cranford Police Chief Harry Wilde.
Preliminary contacts were made with West Point. On October 26, 1992, in a letter to Lieutenant General Graves, the
Superintendent of the United States Military Academy, the Association memorialized our interest in collaborating
with West Point’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership faculty to develop a program for New Jersey
law enforcement officers. This set the stage for a November visit to the Academy. On November 20, 1992, Chief
Anthony Scutti, Chief William Beachell, and Chief Harry Wilde met with officials from West Point, along with
Commissioners Jesse A. Brewer and Michael R. Yamaki from the Los Angeles Police Department. Coincidentally, the
Los Angeles Police Department had expressed an interest in working with West Point to develop a similar program
for their agency.
On January 20, 1993, Chief Beachell invited the presidents of each county police chief association to a meeting,
during which the State Chiefs committee sought statewide input as the Association moved forward from the
conceptual phase to structuring and implementing the program. At the conclusion of the meeting, Chief Wilde asked
for a statewide consensus to move forward with the project and a commitment to support it by providing qualified
instructors and enrolling command officers. In the ensuing weeks, the go ahead was unanimously endorsed at a
meeting of the state Board of Officers. Shortly thereafter, the program was endorsed by the general membership at
a regularly scheduled meeting.
The committee set about its task of aggressively addressing issues concerning coordination with West Point, the
length of the course, standards for the selection of core instructors, training facilities, and textbooks. Officials at
West Point advised that Colonel Jeffrey A. McNally, the Associate Editor of the Leadership in Organizations textbook,
and Colonel John Wattendorf, the Chairman of the West Point’s Department of Behavioral Sciences and Leadership,
would be our primary liaisons. An invitation was extended to Colonels Wattendorf and McNally to visit the NJSACOP
at the Union County Police Academy in New Jersey in April 1993.
The meeting was exceptionally productive. After discussing and resolving several issues of mutual concern, the
NJSACOP representatives were surprised and pleased to learn that Colonel Wattendorf had already cleared the decks
for ten NJSACOP core instructors to attend the USMA faculty development workshop at West Point in June of that
year. Our representatives were invited to participate in this program with West Point faculty. The curriculum involved
four weeks of intensive instruction on course preparation and presentation techniques. Additionally, West Point
offered to provide quarters free of charge to our participants. It was this startling development that sparked our
committee to immediately embark on developing selection criteria and a fair selection process to identify and
nominate ten core instructors.
Paramount in the criteria was our goal to select, in Chief Wilde’s words, “the finest of New Jersey’s finest.” Stringent
education requirements, interviews, and a commitment to serve at least three years with the program were
conditions of application. The committee consciously made an effort to insure a regional balance of representation
with the core group.
Final interviews were conducted by NJSACOP’s Training and Education Committee on June 1, 1993, at the Monmouth
County Police Academy. Not surprisingly, the field of talent from across the state was very impressive, making the
final decisions extremely difficult. After lengthy and thoughtful deliberation, assessment and evaluation, the following
candidates were selected as core instructors.
Continued on next page
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