By Kristen Mahoney
The job of a police leader has changed.
Today’s command-level leaders are expected to do far more than manage operations. They must develop people, shape organizational culture, manage risk, use evidence to guide strategy, communicate through conflict, build partnerships, lead through crises and adapt their organizations to rapidly changing public safety challenges.
Preparing for that job requires more than experience alone. It requires opportunities to examine evidence, challenge assumptions, learn from others and develop the skills needed to lead increasingly complex organizations.
That thinking is behind a new national hybrid offering from the University of Virginia’s National Criminal Justice Command College.
Beginning February 1, 2027, UVA will bring together mid-to-upper-level law enforcement and public safety leaders from across the country for a seven-month educational and leadership experience designed for professionals preparing to take on broader organizational responsibilities.
Education designed for the realities of modern policing
The curriculum is built around the issues command-level leaders are confronting now. Across five University of Virginia courses, participants examine leadership identity, ethics and decision-making; risk, wellness and civil liability; evidence-based policing and strategy; organizational culture and human capital; communication and conflict; innovation and change leadership; crisis leadership; and interagency collaboration.
The objective is designed to give leaders the opportunity to step outside the demands of the day-to-day, examine what research and experience tell us, challenge assumptions and consider how different approaches could improve decisions within their own organizations.
Those decisions have consequences for employees, organizational culture, agency risk, public trust and, ultimately, outcomes for the communities they serve.
Built on a foundation of public safety education
The hybrid Command College is part of a broader investment in public safety leadership at the University of Virginia. UVA’s Center for Public Safety and Justice brings together practitioners, researchers and educators through university education, leadership development, applied research and partnerships focused on contemporary public safety challenges.
The new hybrid Command College builds on that experience. It was designed nto provide an educational experience tailored to the responsibilities facing today’s command-level leaders.
Where evidence meets experience
Who participants learn from matters as much as what they study. The Command College brings together nationally recognized researchers, public safety executives and experienced practitioners, including Gordon Graham, Dr. Robin Engel, Dr. Tracie Keesee, Chief Robert Contee (ret), Chief Mike Alverez, Ben Haiman, Chief Timothy Longo, Chief Kathy Lester (ret), Julie Parker, Deputy Chief Christian Quinn (ret), FBI Assistant Director George Piro (ret), and Kristen Mahoney, among many others. Together, faculty and guest speakers bring expertise spanning leadership and decision-making, evidence-based policing, risk, ethics, organizational change, communication and crisis leadership.
That mix is intentional. Command-level leaders need more than theory, and they need more than lessons drawn from one person’s experience. They need to understand what the evidence says, learn from people who have led through difficult circumstances and test their thinking alongside peers confronting similar challenges.
The cohort itself becomes part of that education. Participants learn alongside public safety leaders from agencies across the country, comparing approaches and seeing how similar challenges play out in different organizations and communities. Those relationships also create a professional network that can extend well beyond the program.
A hybrid model built around working leaders
Talented leaders cannot always step away from their agencies and families for an extended period to pursue advanced education. The hybrid model combines weekly online coursework with four intensive in-person sessions at the University of Virginia and in Washington, D.C., allowing participants to remain active in their agencies throughout the seven-month program.
The format creates an ongoing cycle of learning, application and reflection. Participants can take what they are learning back to their agencies, consider it against real-world conditions and return to their faculty and cohort with new questions and experiences.
Hybrid allows flexibility for working professional leaders
Participants benefit from hundreds of hours of instruction and applied learning while completing university-level readings, assignments and assessments. The result is a sustained educational experience designed to develop leaders over time rather than a short-term leadership seminar.
15 UVA credits — and a pathway forward
Participants leave the Command College with something tangible: 15 University of Virginia credits. For participants completing the program for graduate credit, those credits can fulfill half of the 30 credits required for UVA’s online Master of Public Safety degree. Undergraduate credits can be applied toward UVA’s Bachelor of Interdisciplinary Studies program. Graduates who want to continue their education therefore leave the Command College with a significant start toward a UVA degree.
The 2027 national hybrid cohort
The next national hybrid cohort runs February 1 through September 1, 2027, combining weekly online coursework with four in-person sessions in Charlottesville and Washington, D.C. Applications are due November 1, 2026.
UVA will host a virtual information session on October 14 from 1–2 p.m. ET for prospective participants and agency leaders. The session will cover the curriculum, schedule, tuition and funding options and provide an opportunity to ask questions about the program.To register for that webinar, please use this link.
Modern policing asks more of its leaders than ever before. The National Criminal Justice Command College was designed around a straightforward idea: the education that prepares them to lead should evolve with the job.
About the author
Kristen Mahoney is Senior Director for Educational Programs at UVA’s Center for Public Safety and Justice. Prior to joining the University of Virginia, Kristen Mahoney was the Director of Policy, Government and Partner Engagement at the University of Chicago’s Crime Lab and Education Lab. In this role, she spearheaded the development and implementation of outreach and collaboration strategies to engage elected officials and government agencies at all levels. In addition, she served as the Principal Deputy Director at the U.S. Department of Justice’s Bureau of Justice Assistance, overseeing an agency responsible for over $4 billion in public safety resources. She also led the Maryland Governor’s Office of Crime Control & Prevention, where she developed and implemented strategies to reduce crime, juvenile delinquency, and serve victims. Additionally, she held key positions at the Baltimore Police Department as the Chief of Technical Services and the Director of the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice. Mahoney’s exceptional contributions to public safety were recognized with a 2016 Presidential Rank Award from President Obama for her work on the National Public Safety Partnership. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree from Sweet Briar College and a Juris Doctor from the University of Baltimore.