Casper Police Department Sergeants Daniel Dundas and Michael Ogden recently graduated from the School of Police Staff and Command at Northwestern University.

Both Sergeants completed the ten-week course in Fort Worth, Texas between January and April of 2019.

This intense academic program provides upper-level college instruction in a total of twenty-seven core blocks. Major study topics include: leadership, human resources, employee relations, organizational behavior, applied statistics, planning and policy development, budgeting and resource allocation.

“Being afforded the opportunity to attend such an incredible and labor-intensive training is both an honor and a blessing,” SGT Dundas said. “The vast amount of leadership knowledge as well as contemporary policing strategies imparted upon us will undoubtedly allow us to positively shape both current and future personnel of the Casper Police Department.”

“During our time at Fort Worth were able to establish lifelong working relationships with numerous officers from other agencies throughout the United States,” SGT Ogden said. “This will be beneficial to the Casper Police Department in the future because we will be able to gain insight into how other agencies conduct business and handle challenges.”

SGT Dundas and SGT Ogden were responsible for identifying an area of improvement for CPD. They then went on to research solutions and compile individual staff studies to provide solutions and implementation strategies, all in an effort to better the Casper Police Department.

SGT Ogden’s study centered around the need for a mandatory physical fitness program. He conducted research into officer injuries and the use of force in regard to officer fitness. SGT Ogden is currently working on a resource deployment study that will assist in effectively deploying patrol officers throughout the city.

SGT Dundas’ study looked into utilizing contemporary recruitment strategies to attract quality police officer applicants to help CPD become fully staffed. Utilizing his research, he hopes to minimize the adverse side effects of short staffing such as officer burnout, response times and overtime costs.

“The Northwestern University School for Police Staff and Command helped me to understand that the ‘thin blue line’ does not separate us from the community,” SGT Dundas said, “but rather is a ‘thin blue thread’ woven into the tapestry that is the community of Casper in which we work.”

Both officers received straight A’s for all graded courses.

The program has graduated over 20,000 students nationally and internally since 1983.

The Center of Public Safety was established at Northwestern University in 1936 with the specific goal of expanding university-based education and training for law enforcement. The Center provides a variety of courses and programs in police and management training and executive development.

The Casper Police Department would like to thank the community for their investment in our officers. We are dedicated to providing the most professional policing strategies to Casper. We are committed to your safety every hour of every day. Thank you for your support. #BetterTogether