The NJ Police Chief Magazine Volume 25, Number 1 | Page 24

The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine | January 2019
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Lieutenant James S. Clifford – Raritan Township Police Department
Captain John J. Coyle – Egg Harbor Township Police Department
Captain Joseph A. Devine – Rockaway Township Police Department
Captain Richard L. Fennessy – Point Pleasant Police Department
Lieutenant William G. Fraher – Paterson Police Department
Lieutenant Anthony Gioielli – Vineland Police Department
Chief William J. Herman – Millville Police Department
Detective Sergeant John D. Reading – Borough of Princeton Police Department
Detective Sergeant Eric G. Mason – Cranford Police Department
Lieutenant Kevin Pollard – Hamilton Township Police Department
Chief Herman led the NJSACOP delegation to West Point on June 21, 1993. They embarked on four weeks of
intensive instruction. When the State Chiefs committee visited our group at West Point, Chief Herman was
exceptionally impressed with the quality of instruction the group was receiving. He told the committee that the
West Point experience was a once in a lifetime opportunity, including the spartan living quarters. All accounts
indicated that Academy staff and faculty rolled out the red carpet for our delegation. Barbecues, boat rides and
dinners with the families of West Pointers fostered long-term friendships and bonds between New Jersey’s law
enforcement community and the greatest military mentors in the world.
After the core instructors completed the course, they returned to New Jersey eager to develop the program. USMA
officials agreed to work with NJSACOP and develop a course guide that would be based on police experiences in
New Jersey.
Over the years, the program has provided exceptional professional development to hundreds of New Jersey police
professionals, and has become a key component in our state’s law enforcement culture.
Fast forward to the present….
The NJSACOP Command & Leadership Academy is not only the
‘crown jewel’ in the NJSACOP Professional Development Division
portfolio, but one of the nation’s premier law enforcement
leadership development courses. Not only does the program provide
a peerless experience for our state’s law enforcement executives
(current and future), but we are also pleased to provide the same
to attendees of the states of Pennsylvania, Delaware, New York,
and Maryland. The students come from a wide variety of agencies
at the local, county, state, and federal levels. We are fortunate to
have a great partner in the New Castle County (DE) Police in this
important endeavor.
On October 30 th of 2018, a few of that initial group of “pioneers”
selected to attend the instructor development session at West Point
got together for a lunch (the NJSACOP was more than glad to pick
up the check) at Maggiano’s in Bridgewater Township, during which
they not only enjoyed fellowship, but also reflect back on that
experience and the important program that it spawned.
Eric Mason, Richard Fennessy, James Clifford,
Joseph Devine and William Fraher
October 30, 2018
Eric Mason, who was later to serve as not only the Cranford Police Chief, but also the NJSACOP Command &
Leadership Program Chair and the President of the NJSACOP, and is currently the Director of the John H. Stamler
Union County Police Academy, looked back on his experience at West Point and with the NJSACOP program with
great pride.
This was one of the most important experiences (ability to go to West Point and study side by side with
military leaders) in our respective careers. Being able to study leadership theory and gaining an
understanding on how leadership theories apply to our profession. Before that there was a lack of
leadership training in New Jersey and this course, this experience for us…everyone who attended were
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