The Executive Leadership Forum brings executives from different countries to share information, learn from each other and correctional experts from across the United States, and most importantly, help advance corrections from a global standpoint. This program began in 2018 when CMIT’s Executive Director, Doug Dretke, was contacted by the U.S. Department of State’s International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Division to develop and deliver an Executive Leadership program. Since its inception, the Executive Leadership Program has welcomed numerous correctional leaders from across the world in an effort to enhance law enforcement and corrections agencies.
With the help of top U.S. executive corrections leaders as instructors, the program has quickly blossomed into a valuable resource for correctional agencies around the world. This program has also been very beneficial to our criminal justice students, allowing them to connect with industry executives. In fact, the National Society of Hispanics in Criminal Justice had the opportunity to meet with these executives during the program and participate in group activities.
Sergio Tamez Jr., who is a Criminal Justice major at SHSU, enjoyed his time meeting professionals in the program and learning about different practices and policies in place in these correctional facilities saying, “It was a great experience that I had learning about the states in Mexico and what government laws they had to follow in making sure that their prison system was following their governmental laws. I really enjoyed learning about how the prisons in Mexico integrated things that they've seen from the U.S. Army like how soldiers that were on tour would use tablets to video chat with their loved ones back home… I [also] liked finding out that the prisons in Mexico have been able to partner with some of their Universities in helping their inmate populations obtain a higher level of education so that once they are released that can go back into society and now contribute to make society a better and safer place.”
Determined to affect law enforcement and correctional agencies around the world, CMIT has plans to expand its program into more countries. Next month, the Executive Leadership Forum will welcome Guatemalan and Columbian Senior Executives to the College of Criminal. Next year the Executive Leadership Forum will be delivered again to correctional leaders from Mexico and Moldovia. As this program develops and grows, we will continue to see CMIT’s impact on correctional systems across the globe.
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