FBI Training for Valley Law Enforcement Supervisors

Texas Border Business

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McAllen, Texas – The FBI’s Law Enforcement Executive Development Association (LEEDA) held a four and a half–day course meant to help prepare the next generation of police leaders for their critical first steps in police leadership.

More than 56 supervisors and managers from law enforcement agencies across Texas attended the training at STC’s Regional Center for Public Safety Excellence (RCPSE). Officers came from Laredo, Austin, and San Antonio, as well as the Rio Grande Valley to participate in the weeklong course. 

Officers were trained on concepts of credibility, accountability, and motivation while becoming familiar with aspects of liability and discipline that are vital to leadership at all levels of their respective agencies.

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“This is a supervision level class which focuses on interpersonal relations as well as the challenges of being a first-line supervisor,” said David Boggs, a retired chief of police from Broken Arrow, Oklahoma who is now a LEEDA instructor. “The goal of the whole class is to make sure people are successful as supervisors, and that they have all the tools they need to start that supervisory journey. It’s foundational for all supervisors.”

The Supervisor Leadership Institute (SLI) is part one of the three-step leadership series that makes up an FBI-LEEDA Trilogy that includes a supervisory leadership institute, command leadership institute, and executive leadership institute, according to event coordinators. 

“LEEDA teaches over 425 courses a year, and anywhere between 10 to 12 trainings a week running simultaneously,” Boggs said.   

“Law enforcement has really gone through extensive changes over the years, and we feel that in order to be the best at what we do, we have to incorporate a lot of the practices that businesses are using in order to manage departments, personnel, and budgets,” said Edward Chavez, an assistance chief with the City of Pharr Police Department. “This course allows us to be able to gain this knowledge. It’s one thing to police, but not a lot of academies teach individuals how to manage organizations.”

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STC is the first border community college in the nation to establish integrative training for local, state and federal professionals in law enforcement, public safety, fire safety, and homeland security along the U.S./Mexico border.

Current goals of the RCPSE include prioritizing the most sought-after instruction required by federal, state, county, municipal, and school district law enforcement, further developing partnerships with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) and assisting agencies in recruiting future law enforcement officers.

STC RCPSE is located on a 64-acre site, in Pharr, Texas with additional acres available for future expansion. The Master Plan includes 534,385 square feet of buildings, target range, emergency vehicles operational course, and fire science structures to be completed in three phases over the next decade.

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