The Village of Chapin announced Friday afternoon that their Chief of Police has graduated from a very prestigious program at Northwestern University.
Police Chief Steven Helmich successfully completed the Northwestern’s ten-week Staff and Command program held in Schaumburg from September 12th through November 18th. This program, which was implemented by the Center for Public Safety in 1983, has graduated over 30,000 students both nationally and internationally. Helmich’s class consisted of representatives from 40 officers from across the state. Helmich was the only downstate representative in his class.
The School of Police Staff and Command provides upper-level college instruction in a total of 27 core blocks of instruction that include topics Leadership, Human Resources, Employee Relations, Organizational Behavior, Applied Statistics, Planning and Policy Development, Budgeting, and Resource Allocation.
Helmich said in a press release that he was thankful to the Illinois National Guard for giving him the opportunity to attend the class through its retirement transition program. Because of the program, Helmich says he was able to attend at no cost to the Village of Chapin. Helmich also personally thanked South Jacksonville Police Chief Eric Hansell for providing a professional mentorship over the last several months.
The Center for Public Safety was established at Northwestern University in 1936 with the specific goal of expanding university-based education and training for the law enforcement community.
Chapin Village Board President Rex Brockhouse says that Helmich’s dedication and graduation from the program on Friday speaks to his dedication to the profession as he is still recovering from injuries he sustained in a shooting earlier this year. Brockhouse says he’s excited what Helmich will bring back to the Chapin Police Department from the program.