DICKINSON — The Dickinson Police Department is preparing to host a summer course at Dickinson State University that will prepare public safety managers for senior leadership positions.
The course, taught by Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command, will take place from May 16 through July 29 at DSU, and will combine academic principles with practical applications. Approximately 20 police officers will be attending this course with 11 police departments from across North Dakota represented as well as law enforcement officials from Missouri, South Dakota and Montana. The Dickinson Police Department will send three of its personnel, Lt. Kylan Klauzer said, along with other officers from the Stark and Dunn County Sheriff’s offices.
“It’s good for the department to be able to host it,” Klauzer said. “At face value, we feel good and proud about being able to bring it in. And then number two is being able to have a class that's going to be built up with a lot of North Dakota attendees is going to be great for our officers and just the networking side of it, building stuff across the state because they're going to be able to have some really nice conversations about a lot of things.”
DSU President Steve Easton remarked that this is a step forward with growing the school’s criminal justice program.
“We are very excited to be hosting this program at Dickinson State, as it fits well with our Dual Mission values of providing training for those in the workforce,” Easton said. “It is an honor to be hosting law enforcement supervisors from such a large region at Dickinson State for this important program.”
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In June of 2021, about the time the city approved the restructure of the police department, Klauzer noted that they began discussions on this program and how vital it would be for area law enforcement agencies if that program was hosted in Dickinson. The course hasn't been offered in Dickinson for about six years.
Klauzer has been coordinating the details of the program from the facility location, meal planning, housing as well as recreational opportunities for visitors coming into the area with a partnership with the West River Community Center. From there, he began seeing what law enforcement agencies would be interested in attending this course.
For the past 39 years, Northwestern School of Police Staff and Command has become one of the most highly respected law enforcement management programs in the United States. Lt. Mike Hanel, Capt. Joe Cianni and Police Chief Dustin Dassinger have all attended this course in the past. Despite taking a different route at the FBI National Academy, Klauzer said that this course is an intensive 10-week program that incorporates adult- and problem-based learning models.
“The curriculum itself, it's pretty high level. It's all college-level material, and has a lot of things involved in it from your budgeting, strategic planning, the stuff that is basic to an administrative role. It's got some leadership components to it,” he said. “... Northwestern has a reputation with the course… It's got a long standing history of those that have been through it and.. (they) have done well in their careers... We're trying to obviously get these guys into things to make them better officers for Dickinson and to be able to have that here in our backyard where they can stay here close to home.”
All students are licensed police officers who serve a supervisory role, Klauzer noted, adding that all will have an acquired amount of time, tenure and rank.
Funding for the registration was made possible through the North Dakota Peace Officer Stands and Training Board and the North Dakota Insurance Reserve Fund to pay for all the North Dakota officers attending, apart from the out-of-state attendees. With the tuition fee covered at $4,900 per person, Klauzer noted that North Dakota officers will have to pay out-of-pocket the additional $2,200 for the meal plan and dorm room at DSU.
“From a community standpoint, I think just knowing that the Dickinson Police Department is investing in staff for personal and professional growth. We hope that they see that as a benefit for them as much as it is for us, trying to continue to offer them the best service that we can,” Klauzer added.
