USD Master of Law Enforcement and Public Safety Leadership Online

When a member of our LEPSL community earns national recognition, we celebrate. 🎉

Congratulations to Pasadena Police Chief Gene Harris (a LEPSL OG from the Class of 2017 and a program ambassador) who was honored with the Who's Who in America's Neighborhoods Award from Neighborhoods, USA.

The award celebrates leaders who bring communities and local government closer together. For Gene, that's how he's led for more than three decades, from Marine Corps forward observer to Chief of Police, building trust, partnerships, and youth engagement across Pasadena.

As he said of the honor: "Building trust and strengthening neighborhoods is a shared responsibility."

Compassion, collaboration and humility...that's been Chief Harris his entire career. We're proud he's part of the LEPSL family. 👏

Full story in the comments. 👇
Pasadena Police Department

34 years of bringing the best law enforcement leaders together. That's what FBI-LEEDA's Annual Executive Training Conference is all about, and we were honored to be a part of it this year in Fort Lauderdale.

Thank you to the entire FBI-LEEDA team for a remarkable few days and for many years of shared mission. Leadership is a skill you build, not a title you're handed, and this community proves it every year.

Shout out to LEPSL faculty member and retired chief Dennis Nayor, who is also actively involved with FBI-LEEDA as an instructor, and to the one and only Paul Butler, who always bring energy and positivity to the stage.

FBI-LEEDA

A few more grad pics !

Congratulations to the 46 law enforcement professionals who have just completed their MS-LEPSL coursework and have joined the prestigious nationwide network of LEPSL graduates. What an amazing, challenging, and insightful journey of growth and learning it has been.

The LEPSL Spring 2026 graduating class includes professionals from Washington, Texas, South Carolina, Oregon, Maryland, Illinois, Florida, Colorado and California.

Job titles range from police officer and deputy sheriff to chief of police. Many work with municipal police departments or county sheriff departments, but other represent probation departments, state patrol, port police, federal agencies, state correctional departments, and departments of public safety. And several of these graduates work with departments that have a long history with LEPSL.

We look forward to seeing all of you with your families and support people next month for the formal commencement celebration. 🎓 🙌 👊

The LEPSL faculty is pleased to announce the awardees of the prestigious Phillip Collum Award for the Spring 2026 Best Practices in Community Engagement course. 🎉

Each of these awardees was selected by a faculty member, having demonstrated academic excellence and mentorship to their peers, in addition to engaging robustly in course discussions.

Effective law enforcement starts with trust and partnership. We are incredibly proud to honor these awardees who are balancing their duties on the street with a commitment to becoming the empathetic, forward-thinking leaders their communities deserve. We are incredibly proud to honor these recipients! 👏

⭐ Captain Kelli Crigler, Signal Hill PD
⭐ Detective Ryan Diener, Baltimore PD
⭐ Commander Gregory Gonzales, Simi Valley PD
⭐ Sergeant Jeremy Kelley, Salisbury PD
⭐ Captain Kal Kunz, Ontario PD
⭐ Correctional Deputy Maxime Schifano, Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office
⭐ Sr. Latent Print Examiner Denise Shepard, Chula Vista PD
⭐ Chief Nicholas Snyder, City of Lancaster PD
⭐ Infrastructure Liaison Officer Matthew Sutton, U.S. Marines Corps Forces

Baltimore Police Department Simi Valley Police Department Santa Clara County Sheriff's Office Chula Vista Police Department Nicholas Snyder Lancaster Police Department Hawaii Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation - DCR

“Material that is directly applicable to today’s law enforcement leadership challenges.” 🎯

That is the goal of every course in LEPSL. We are so proud to see our students immediately applying their leadership growth to real-world challenges in their professional and personal lives.

Congratulations to Commander Portillo and all the public safety leaders who have recently completed their MS-LEPSL coursework and are set to graduate next month! 👏 We are honored to have you in the LEPSL family.🙏