Chief Mattern and his staff congratulate Sergeant Maria O’Connell as the most recent graduate of the highly regarded Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute (SBSLI). The SBSLI curriculum as currently constituted includes a wide range of learning and leadership theories and practices. The mission of the SBSLI is to provide leadership research and theoretical contributions enabling law enforcement supervisors to bridge the gap between scholarship and practice and to perform critical inquiry into contemporary organizational issues. The 24 students (all of whom are required to have completed two years of full-time supervisory experience) comprising each class cohort are expected to become a close-knit community of learners during their eight-month journey. The Socratic Dialogue method of inquiry and debate is employed extensively to stimulate critical thinking and clarify concepts.
Leadership training continues to be identified consistently as a priority need in law enforcement. This need is especially acute for first-line supervisors who play a central role in efficient service. The California Commission on Peace Officer Standards and Training (POST) has been responsive to this need for more than two decades through the Sherman Block Supervisory Leadership Institute (SBSLI).
Chief Mattern and the Los Alamitos Police Department value and support developing the leadership capacity necessary for a modern public safety organization to deliver quality service in an increasingly complex environment. That commitment to constant improvement includes developing patrol officers and detectives, field training officers, corporals and sergeants. As a testament to developing that capacity, every current and recently retired sergeant preceding Sergeant O’Connell has also committed to and completed the SBSLI. Chief Mattern and Captain McAlpine are both graduates of SBSLI, as well.