When Captain Francisco Ortiz began his career in the New Haven Police Department (NHPD) 21 years ago, he never imagined he'd need modern management techniques to enforce the law.
But today, Ortiz and his NHPD colleague, Sargent Michael Pachesa, are gaining a new perspective on law enforcement and police management thanks to the Management Training Institute, a joint effort of Yale and the City of New Haven.
The two police officers, along with 24 other civilian managers from Yale and the city, are learning how to incorporate leadership skills into their everyday jobs under the tutelage of instructors from Yale's Organizational Development and Learning Center.
Transforming management from an art practiced by only a few into a science that can be learned by all is the focus of the Organizational Development and Learning Center, which runs the Management Training Institute. The center is headed by Laura Freebairn-Smith, a 1986 graduate of the Yale School of Management, who formerly founded and directed Good Works Associates, a leadership skills consultancy.
"Policing has changed since when I first began," says Ortiz, who did a stint as an investigator with New Haven State's Attorney Michael Dearington's office in 1996 before returning to the NHPD and attaining the rank of captain in 1998.
"Traditionally, policing is rudimentary -- defining statutes, making arrests, investigating crime, testifying in court, following rules and procedures. For the most part, it's somewhat paramilitary," he adds.
"When I first learned about this training opportunity, I thought it might help bring some more creative management styles that I might implement in the department in our model of policing," says Ortiz, who is the community patrol resource coordinator overseeing 300 officers.
Ortiz, who was invited by NHPD upper management to attend the institute, says the classes are helping him to look at the department globally in reviewing management styles and to view the department as if it were a private business organization seeking to implement motivational techniques.
"We are learning tremendously about the things that influence the police department -- behavior, conduct and outcomes -- all the components that are important to policing," he says. "The course helps all of us think about our roles and the decisions we make every day, and the impact those decisions make on the people we supervise -- as well as the public at large."
Ortiz plans to take back insights into the roles of the key people around him and to encourage them to participate more in the decision-making process by implementing the teamwork and task-oriented problem solving skills he has learned in the Management Training Institute.
Instructors from Organizational Development and Learning Center teach at the Management Training Institute at no charge to the University or to the students, says Freebairn-Smith. The center also conducts other courses, some of which are free or carry nominal fees, at the Learning Center at 221 Whitney Avenue. These courses are open to both Yale employees and the public.
"The University is investing heavily in improving its managerial skills, its staff skills, basic administrative skills and customer service skills," says Freebairn-Smith. "We're going to see a lot of new initiatives and change coming over the next two to five years. The feedback has been fantastic. The Management Training Institute will be offered at least once a year."
Those interested in the Learning Center should visit its website at http://
www.yale.edu/learning center, or call the office at (203) 432-5660.
A formal graduation ceremony for this year's class will take place on Friday, Oct. 29, 11:30 a.m.-1:30 p.m. It will be hosted by Yale President Richard C. Levin and New Haven Mayor John DeStefano Jr.
-- By Thomas R. Violante
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