Senior Management Institute for Police (SMIP)

SMIP is a program of the Police Executive Research Forum Program that provides senior police executives intensive training in the latest management concepts and practices used in business and government. A demanding three-week course, SMIP brings together a faculty from some of the nation's top universities, successful law enforcement chief executives, and subject matter experts from the private sector. It is designed for mid-to-upper level police executives who will ultimately lead police agencies throughout the United States and other participating countries. SMIP’s curriculum addresses those issues that demand the attention of today’s forward-thinking law enforcement leaders. Classes are held at Boston University where participants reside in the university’s finest residence hall.

The Value Proposition for SMIP

SMIP brings together leading thinkers in corporate and public management to provide intensive training in the best available management theory and practice, innovative solutions to organizational problems, and discussion of important issues in managing public service organizations effectively. The program's goal is to give police managers the same quality of management education available to leaders in other public and private sector endeavors.

As a developmental program for the profession's current and future leaders, SMIP focuses on leadership and executive development. The curriculum is much more conceptual than technical and it requires participants to think in broad terms about their agencies' environments. Cases and class discussions stimulate critical thinking and problem solving. Participants emerge with an understanding of advanced management practices and effective leadership, and enhanced awareness of the management methods and resources necessary for performing current or future responsibilities. By sharing individual management experiences and exchanging ideas during group discussions, participants gain confidence in their managerial abilities and develop sources of consultation, advice and support that will endure well beyond the course.

Upon graduation, attendees will be offered free PERF membership for the remainder of the year, and a registration fee waiver for PERF's next annual meeting. The extensive resources of the Police Executive Research Forum and the Senior Management Institute for Police remain available to participants after the course. This commitment has helped make SMIP a national center for the education and training of the future leaders of American policing.

What the Course is All About

SMIP gives participants a clear understanding of general management theory, policy development, planning processes, and organizational structure and behavior. Among the topics covered will be diversity, political management, organizational strategy, performance management, organizational change, leadership, managerial problem solving, career planning, negotiation and labor relations, process analysis, media relations, and new policing strategies and innovations. Each year we strive to add instruction on the most topical issues facing law enforcement executives.

The program uses the case study method of instruction. Popularized by use in the nation's top business schools, this method combines careful and extensive reading of case materials, including problem analysis and managerial decisions, with classroom discussion of the issues presented in each case. SMIP uses corporate, public and police agency cases and encourages participants to apply each case's concepts and issues to their organizations. Because of the program's intensity and daily group study, all participants are required to reside on campus for the program's duration, except weekends.

Because the majority of participants have already completed post-graduate studies, SMIP does not offer college credits. However, former participants have been awarded credit by colleges they attended upon presentation of the SMIP objectives and course curriculum.

The Core Faculty Delivering the Course

Malcolm K. Sparrow is SMIP's faculty head. He is the Professor of the Practice of Public Management and Faculty Chair of the Executive Program on Strategic Management of Regulatory and Enforcement Agencies at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government. He served 10 years with the British Police Service, rising to the rank of Detective Chief Inspector. He holds a PhD in applied mathematics from the University of Kent at Canterbury (England).

Herman B. "Dutch" Leonard is George F. Baker Jr. Professor of Public Management at the Kennedy School and Eliot I. Snider and Family Professor of Business Administration and Cochair of the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School. He teaches leadership, organizational strategy, crisis management, and financial management. His current research concentrates on crisis management, corporate social responsibility, and performance management. He received his PhD in economics in 1979 from Harvard University.

Brian S. Mandell is Senior Lecturer in Public Policy and Director of the Kennedy School's Negotiation Project. He is also Chair of the Wexner-Israel and Kokkalis Fellowship programs at the school. His current teaching and research address the theory and practice of negotiation, emphasizing third-party facilitation and consensus building in domestic and international protracted policy disputes. He writes about contentious disputes and is completing a book on scenario planning for conflict managers and negotiation practitioners. A Pew Faculty Fellow and Senior Research Associate at the Kennedy School's Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Mandell holds a PhD from the University of Toronto.

Mark H. Moore is the Hauser Professor of Nonprofit Organizations and Director of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations. He was for over a decade the Founding Chairman of the Kennedy School's Committee on Executive Programs. From 1979-2004, he was the Guggenheim Professor of Criminal Justice Policy and Management and Faculty Chairman of the Program Criminal Justice Policy and Management at the Kennedy School. Moore holds a BA from Yale University (Summa Cum Laude and Honors with Exceptional Distinction in Political Science and Economics), and an MPP and PhD from the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.

Chuck Wexler was appointed as the Executive Director of PERF in 1993. In addition to leading staff engaged in research, management services and executive development and selection, Wexler has been directly involved in major projects to more efficiently deliver policing services in Minneapolis, Chicago, Kansas City, Los Angeles, Northern Ireland, Jamaica, London and the Middle East. He oversaw PERF's analysis of the Washington sniper incidents and co-authored Managing Multijurisdictional Cases: Lessons Learned from the Sniper Investigation. He also co-authored "Good to Great" Policing: Application of Business Management Principles in the Public Sector. Wexler graduated from Boston University, earned a masters degree from Florida State University and a PhD from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). He has been an instructor at Bowdoin College and MIT.

Other faculty and guest speakers include academicians, media professionals, private and public sector managers, and nationally recognized law enforcement executives. It must be stressed that while some SMIP faculty members are also among the faculty of Harvard and other universities, SMIP is a PERF Leadership Development Program, and is not affiliated with Harvard University, the Kennedy School of Government, or any other educational entity.

Individual Commitment

SMIP is a very demanding, fast-paced, reading-intensive program that requires considerable commitment and hard work in class and after class through independent and group study assignments. Each day, participants will be called upon in class to offer their perspective on the issues presented in the assigned cases and readings. A lack of preparedness will result not only in diminished success of the individual, but it can also impact the progress of the entire class. Keeping up with assignments and team work is essential.

Qualifications for Individual Attendance

Enrollment is limited. To qualify for SMIP you must be the chief executive or a senior manager in your agency (Lieutenant or above, or civilian equivalent) with significant responsibility for major agency activities and have the potential for selection as chief executive of your agency or another. A 4-year degree from an accredited college or university is required. PERF is committed to select only those who are fully committed to actively participate in this valuable management education experience.

Online registration for SMIP is launched on October 1 each year.