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Wilmington University Hosts Final International Chiefs of Police Meeting
Now an international annual meeting, WilmU has played host since 2009
For the past eight years, some of the nation's top law enforcement experts have been planning the future of police leadership from the executive boardroom at Wilmington University.
While their annual three-day meeting will be moving to a new location next year, its attendees took a moment during the June 15 session to honor WilmU for its longtime hosting duties.
"The university and its faculty have been very supportive in keeping the needs of the committee satisfied," said Lou Dekmar, chief of the LaGrange, Ga., Police Department, who'd attended the session. "What always surprises me is the amount of dedication that the committee's members and organizers bring to their work. All of this is volunteer, so it speaks to their time and commitment.
The Police Administrative Committee, one of 30 committees that report to the International Association of Chiefs of Police, meets every summer ahead of the IACP's annual conference in the fall.
Gathering on the second floor of the Peoples Library Building at WilmU's New Castle campus, police executives and academic educators from across the U.S. have discussed issues affecting police departments and developed policies for improved operations.
"We talk about current practices and current challenges to find ways to increase the effectiveness of public safety," said Dekmar, the first vice president of the 30,000-member, 32-country IACP and, as of next year, its president. "Every agency is an incubator, and networking allows these professionals to communicate and evaluate their options. These committees are spokes in a wheel."
The geographical accessibility of Delaware and the strength of WilmU's criminal justice curriculum brought the PAC's meetings to New Castle. The university may have been the biggest beneficiary in playing host to high-level law enforcers, said Kirk Trate, who directs its criminal justice programs and has been active in the committee for more than a decade.
"The PAC meetings were good for the university," said Trate. "Networking with the IACP leadership gave us exposure to forward-thinking criminal justice professionals," including the organization's next president, who's now visited the campus and its faculty four times.
The meetings boosted Wilmington University's profile among the committee's members, some of whom have since earned post-graduate degrees through the College of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and even among police nationwide.
"In those eight years, we didn't just host the mid-year meetings, we also co-sponsored the IACP's annual Leadership In Law Enforcement Volunteer Programs Award," Trate explained. As a result, eight police departments that have made a difference in their communities now display the crystal trophies — engraved with the words "Wilmington University" — in their offices.
"It's put our name on the law enforcement leadership map. Literally," said Trate.
About Wilmington University
Wilmington University is a private, nonprofit institution committed to providing flexible, career-oriented, traditional and online associate, undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degree programs. Ranked as the second fastest growing nonprofit doctoral institution in America by The Almanac of The Chronicle of Higher Education (2004-2014), Wilmington University enables greater student success through affordable tuition, academic excellence and individualized attention. For more information, contact Wilmington University at 302-356-INFO (4636), via email at infocenter@wilmu.edu, or visit www.wilmu.edu.
