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TORONTO, November 1, 2001 -- A second contingent of Ontario police executives have equipped themselves with new leadership and management skills to help them in the fight against local, national and international crime thanks to an MBA-style program at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management.

The Police Leadership Program is the first MBA-style program in Canada. It is an intensive, four-week course with a customized curriculum that covers leadership, strategy, financial management, human resources, police service, community knowledge, political astuteness and communications.

“Today’s police leaders need the ability to make strategic decisions that ensure the public continues to benefit from a high level of service and protection against criminal activity, whatever its source,” said Professor Joseph D’Cruz, Program Director of the Police Leadership Program at the University of Toronto’s Rotman School of Management. “Police executives need many of the same skills and processes that make business managers successful.”

The program is a partnership between the Ontario Association of Chiefs of Police (OACP) and the Rotman School. The current class includes 16 police executives representing eight services from across Ontario. The program includes classroom instruction by Rotman faculty, peer interaction, plus presentations by business leaders and police-related speakers, such as Toronto Police Services Chief Julian Fantino, RCMP Commissioner Guliano Zaccardelli and OPP Commissioner Gwen Boniface.

“The knowledge gained from this program is applicable to all police services, whatever their size and location,” said Glenn Stannard, Chief of the Windsor Police Service and OACP President. “Every police service must be prepared to protect the public against crime that can originate locally or internationally. To do that, police executives need to know how to maximize the effectiveness of their departments. This is exactly the type of understanding obtained from the Police Leadership Program.”

The ceremonial graduation for the current class takes place at the Rotman School, Saturday November 3, 2001 beginning at 5 p.m. Attending the ceremony will be police chiefs and senior officers, civic representatives, OACP members and the graduates’ families.

Thirty-two police executives representing 15 police services from across Ontario attended the program in 2001. Two graduates from the inaugural class have since earned promotions. The next Police Leadership Program will begin in spring 2002 and, for the first time, a limited number of places will be made available to qualified candidates from outside Canada.

The OACP is a professional services organization of more than 1,000 members that promotes competent administration of policing services, co-ordinates police training and education and provides timely information to its members. The Association continually strives to increase the efficiency of law enforcement agencies for the protection and service of the people of Ontario.

The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto is one of the world’s top-tier business schools. It offers leading-edge research and undergraduate and graduate degree programs, plus an innovative series of Executive Programs tailored to the needs of businesses, organizations and individual managers.