January 2026 | The New Jersey Police Chief Magazine 32 2025 NJSACOP ADVANCED PROFESSIONAL POLICING PRACTICES COURSE
The NJSACOP has a well-earned reputation for offering our members and other stakeholders cutting-edge professional development opportunities and fresh perspectives on contemporary issues. One of our Association’ s key strategies in delivering such opportunities is looking beyond the traditional topics, presenters, venues, and methods of continuing professional development for law enforcement professionals. Although there are a variety of definitions given to the term“ Continuing Professional Development,” the one I find most on point in the policing context is that given by the UK College of Policing:“ A range of learning activities through which you can maintain or enhance your capacity to practice legally, safely, ethically and effectively.” i
The 17 police professionals that attended the 2025 NJSACOP Advanced Professional Policing Practices Course did just that, and much more. The program, conducted with the assistance of very generous colleagues at the London Metropolitan Police Service(“ The Met”), was conducted December 06 – 14, at various sites around London. In putting together the agenda for the program, we were able to take advantage of the close links we’ ve forged over the past several years with police executives and police agencies in the United Kingdom.
The limited registration for this course served to maximize the interactive nature of the learning experience. The agenda was broken down into multiple units, which included discussions and presentations at the Central Criminal Court(“ The Old Bailey”), New Scotland Yard( headquarters of the Metropolitan Police), MO19( the Met’ s Counter-Terror Specialist Firearms unit), the Home Office, National Football Policing Unit, and the City of London Police. The specific information provided on plans, tactics, strategies, mistakes, successes, and the like were interesting and useful, even more importantly, there was the chance for our attendees to look at these topics from another perspective and to challenge their own thoughts and assumptions.
The agenda also included a visit to the U. S. Embassy in London, where the delegation was hosted by the Legal Attachés of the multiple Federal law enforcement agencies in residence there. The attachés at the Embassy in London are responsible for working with the host country agencies to jointly investigate crimes affecting US citizens and interests throughout United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland. They also work with US domestic policing agencies( local, state, and federal) as required due to the increasingly international nature of the crime and terrorism related threats. The discussions and interaction with our London-based US law enforcement colleagues was one of the highlights of the program.
Another program highlight was the visit to the Croydon Police Station in the Met’ s South Borough Command Unit. Our visit was facilitated by the BCU Commander Superintendent Barrie Capper. Our delegation was invited to the shift briefing followed by“ ride-alongs,” where we were able to get a first-hand look at the way the officers respond to the challenges that come with policing that area, and how they simultaneously connect with the communities that they serve.
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College of Policing,“ CPD Framework”, Version 1.0