School of Police Staff & Command Celebrates 40 Years of Excellence
Throughout 2023, Northwestern University Center for Public Safety is celebrating the 40th anniversary of its School of Police Staff & Command (SPSC), its internationally acclaimed management and leadership program.
SPSC Class #1 was held on the Evanston Campus at the former -- and once again current -- NUCPS department at 405 Church Street from June 27 through September 2, 1983. In 2023, SPSC will be graduating classes in the 550s.
The development of the School of Police Staff & Command was NUCPS' response to sweeping cultural and professional changes that occurred in the 1970s and early 1980s. The Center's management program at the time was the Police Administration Training Program (aka PATP, or The Long Program). Established in 1938, PATP required officers to move to Evanston for the full Northwestern undergraduate academic year. The directors at NUCPS in the late 1970s understood that the former 10-month Police Administration Training Program (aka PATP, or The Long Program) was becoming untenable for both agency staffing requirements and for duel-income families.
Created as an intensive, streamlined version of PATP, NUCPS quickly realized that without the need to house students for an academic year, the full-time, 10-week SPSC could easily be taken on the road to the benefit the most students and agencies as possible. SPSC Class #8 was the first off-campus program, running in Ypsilanti, Michigan, in Winter 1985. By 1993, SPSC programs were off and running coast-to-coast. Today, NUCPS offers registration opportunities to more than 20 SPSC locations per year. We have brought our program to more than 21,000 students, including global locations in Canada, Kosovo, South Korea, and more.
On June 29, 2023, SPSC graduates SPSC graduates, current and retired staff and instructors, and friends of NUCPS gathered at our office in Evanston to celebrate our 40th anniversary. School of Professional Studies Dean Thomas Gibbons joined the festivities, and Director Shelly Camden served up a birthday cake. Pictures can be accessed on our Facebook page.
The SPSC 40th Anniversary continues all year.