USC program aims to teach police leadership skills, with help from state funding

Major Lee Catoe, with the state Transport Police, accepts an award for completing the Excellence in Policing and Public Safety Program at the University of South Carolina School of Law on Friday, May 9, 2025. (Photo by Skylar Laird/SC Daily Gazette)

COLUMBIA — As the University of South Carolina’s first day of a police leadership program came to an end, the 15 officers in the class started to wonder, “What have we gotten ourselves into?” said Major Lee Catoe, one of the program’s students.

That first class, which taught officers about different types of leadership styles, was just a taste of the intensive 17-month course in which police officers from across the state learned leadership skills and how to handle difficult policing situations, said Catoe, who has spent 18 years with the State Transport Police.

Started with $10 million from the state Legislature in 2023, the Excellence in Policing and Public Safety Program teaches officers evidence-based practices on policing. Lessons include how to effectively communicate with each other and members of the public and how policing relates to civil rights issues, according to its website.

The program’s second cohort of officers graduated Friday, bringing the total graduates in the pilot program to 31. The first cohort of 16 officers finished the course in March.

Staff at the university’s law school, in talking to state law enforcement officials, realized police had few professional development opportunities focused on what it takes to be a great leader, said William Hubbard, dean of the university’s law school.

So, they decided to fill in those gaps, he said.

The course was open to officers who are already in a leadership position at their agency or aspire to be in one and have the skills necessary. By cultivating great leaders, the program aims to encourage more people to become police officers and stay in the profession, Hubbard said.

“That’s what we’ve sought to do,” Hubbard said.

Unlike other professional development courses, professors give students real-world scenarios to solve using what they learned about best practices and how their actions affect everyone involved, Catoe said.

“A lot of times, you like to live in black and white, very ordered and structured,” Catoe said. “Every once in a while, you have to go outside of that to find a solution that’s beneficial to the person, not violating their rights and that supports law enforcement’s objective.”

The program consisted of seven weeklong courses, spread out over the course of 17 months.

Along with teaching leadership skills, staff also offered help in writing grants for departments and other resources for officers.

“It’s really a treasure trove for law enforcement,” Catoe said.

Among the topics covered are what drives people to commit crimes, how mental health and community trust can affect people’s interactions with police officers and the history of racial profiling, according to the program’s website.

Many of the courses were eye-opening, Catoe said.

For instance, one week, officers learned how to use social media to connect with their communities. They used the university’s social media lab to see which posts did well and which didn’t, which Catoe hadn’t considered previously.

“Sometimes we have to adapt on the fly and do something,” Catoe said he learned. “When we find what works, we continue to use it.”

Filling in those gaps, including teaching leaders how to work together, is essential, said Gov. Henry McMaster.

He recalled a major drug bust he led as the state’s U.S. attorney in the 1980s that came together only when different agencies figured out how to collaborate instead of working parallel to one another.

Operation Jackpot, as the bust was known, led to the conviction of more than 100 people who were smuggling drugs into the country.

“You’ve got to make the ends meet,” said McMaster, the keynote speaker for Friday’s graduation. “There can’t be gaps.”

The program was meant to test curriculum for a master’s degree in public safety executive leadership, with the university plans to start offering this fall, according to an application the university submitted to its board of trustees.

The master’s course will use officers’ feedback from the pilot program to develop its curriculum, broadening it to twice as many people in the coming years, according to the application.

“I truly believe that as this program is pushed out across the state, it is going to be monumental for our officers,” said Aiken Lieutenant Jennifer Hayes, one of Friday’s graduates.