COURSES

This course will develop competencies in the written, oral and group communication skills necessary for effective performance of the administrative duties in the law enforcement community. Students will master writing forms and public speaking skills commonly employed in the law enforcement environment. Group skills will include identification of specific small group communication behaviors, (task leadership, socio-emotional leadership, and the central negative) as important aspects of building leadership teams for the law enforcement administrator.

This course will provide students with an opportunity to develop an understanding of two critical components of implementing a commitment to social justice as a law enforcement administrator: 1) the challenge to respond effectively to multi-cultural communities; 2) insight into the relationship between social justice and criminal justice.

This course introduces the student to research design as applied to the field of law enforcement. Students will master the following research methodologies: participant observation, interviewing, constructing and implementing surveys, content analysis, coding and analysis of qualitative data, coordinating qualitative and quantitative methods. The student will develop mastery of simple and multiple regression, chi-square analysis, interpretation of crime trends and correlation, the analysis of "hot spot" crime, and selected additional analytical techniques. Students will also become familiar with basic ethical principles that guide research. (Taken concurrently with LEA 521)

This course support LEA 520. Students will have an opportunity to focus on specific issues in data analysis in an applied technology setting.

This course will address the constitutional rights of the public, specifically, rights granted under the 4th Amendment (reasonable search and seizure), 5th Amendment (privilege against self-incrimination), and 6th Amendment (the right to counsel). The course will explore civil rights and liability cases involving municipalities, police departments, police administrators, and individual officers. Included will be federal civil action under United States Code 1983, state civil action, federal criminal penalties, and state criminal penalties. Emphasis will be placed on arrest search and seizure, use of force, police chases and police interrogation.

This course focuses on issues in labor relations confronting the law enforcement administrator. Topics include The Americans with Disabilities Act, Sexual Harassment law, Workers' Compensation statutes and labor law. Also, contract law as it impacts union-bidding procedures will be addressed. The students will be divided into negotiating teams and be given a case study labor dispute. Each team will attempt to negotiate a settlement or, as an alternative, arbitrate the dispute.

This course examines crime as a political concern and delves into the conflicting political philosophies and ethical issues that guide our judgments relative to criminal justice issues and policy.

This course is designed to assist law enforcement administrators in understanding the relationship between the community they serve and how public policy is shaped in that community. The law enforcement administrator will learn to analyze and evaluate the effectiveness of current policies and learn how to build community relations that can serve as the foundation for changing public policy.

This course is designed to assist law enforcement administrators in employee recruitment, retention and termination. Law enforcement administrators will learn how to conduct promotion reviews, manage disciplinary procedures and identify and correct personnel concerns. The students will be given a case study problem in which they will decide on the alternatives to deal with a problem employee, i.e. counseling, additional training, suspension, or termination.

Students will study organizational theory and its application to the police environment. The course will stress an organization's need for a clearly stated purpose, common goals, teamwork, sense of direction and the ability to assess whether the direction in which an organization is moving is desirable. Other topics include task and relationship analysis, human relationships within an organizational setting and the ability to identify a high performance organization.

This course will teach students how to design a budget, conduct fiscal planning that accurately reflects employment policies, manage their department within budget, and conduct fiscal analysis of proposed programs and personnel needs.

This course functions as a cumulative assessment process as students complete the requirements for the degree. In this course students will demonstrate the ability to integrate the theory and skills developed in the graduate program in a simulation exercise.

Under the direction of a thesis committee, the student will plan, research and write the Master’s thesis. The thesis option is designed to meet the needs of students who plan to complete doctoral study.