Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Jerry Booker Completes Training

A local law enforcement officer graduated Friday, April 14, from the School of Law Enforcement Supervision (SLES), Session XV, at the Criminal Justice Institute, University of Arkansas System.

Second Lieutenant Jerry Booker with the Arkansas Highway Police completed the four-week school consisting of 144 hours of classroom instruction covering major aspects of police supervision. The school convened one week a month from January to April at the institute.

Twenty-five officers from throughout the state are nominated by their agency to attend. This mid-level management course is designed for first and second line supervisors to assist them in the development and reinforcement of techniques needed to apply sound management principles.

"A major emphasis is placed on ensuring that the law enforcement student understands the management concepts of planning, organizing, staffing, delegation, coordination and budgeting," said Dr. Lee Colwell, director of the institute.

The SLES focuses on leadership, education and advancement in the law enforcement profession. Topics of instruction include organizational theory, organizational design, decision-making, legal issues in policy development, interpersonal and organizational communications, human resource management, media relations and organizational change.

Class participants are required to successfully complete a written examination at the conclusion of each week of the SLES on material drawn from lectures, course texts, and outside reading assignments. In addition, this course requires the student to make oral presentations and prepare a research paper on an assigned topic.

"Classroom participation is the key to the course. Insuring that officers learn through actual participation in a classroom environment increased their ability to perform outside the classroom," Dr. Colwell said. "In a controlled classroom environment, officers are provided with the how to' information and then allowed to put that knowledge to work in simulated problems where successes, as well as errors and mistakes, can be analyzed and different approaches to solving problems examined."

The Criminal Justice Institute, University of Arkansas System, is committed to addressing the needs of Arkansas' law enforcement community. Since 1988, the institute has provided education and training programs to over 19,000 law enforcement administrators.

Second Lt. Booker has been with the Arkansas Highway Police for 18 years and is married to Corinna Taylor Booker. They live in the Redland community.