Albert Lea Police Department Lt. Darren Hanson has graduated from the School of Police Staff and Command at Northwestern University, according to a press release.

Hanson has completed the 10-week staff and command program in Des Moines, Iowa, from march 7 to Aug. 19. The program, which was implemented by the Center for Public Safety in 1983, has graduated over 16,000 students both nationally and internationally. Hanson was a student in SPSC class No. 395, which accommodated a total of 22 students for the 10-week period.

The School of Police Staff and Command provides upper-level college instruction in a total of 27 core blocks of instruction and additional optional blocks during each session. The major topics of study include leadership, human resources, employee relations, organized behavior, applied statistics, planning and policy development, budgeting and resource allocation.

Each student is academically challenged through written examinations, projects, presentations and quizzes in addition to a staff study paper that are all required parts of the curriculum. Upon successful completion, students may be awarded a total of six units of undergraduate credit from Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois.

The Center for Public Safety was established at Northwestern University in 1936 with specific goal of expanding university-based education and training for the law enforcement community. Since its inception, the center has broadened its original objective and now provides a variety of courses and programs in the area of police training, management training and executive development.

The Police Department said it anticipates a variety of benefits from Hanson’s attendance at the program. Many of the program’s graduates have gone on to achieve a variety of leadership positions within their respective agencies.