Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Participates in Recent Department of Homeland Security Leadership Academy

Late last year, Oconee County Sheriff’s Office Lieutenant Tommy Crompton participated in the Department of Homeland Security Leadership Academy – Class 10.

The Academy was held from November 30th thru December 11th at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center in Glynco, GA. The purpose of the Academy, according to Lt. Crompton, was to create a network across the United States to develop leaders as well as ways to make those leaders better. The training is federally funded at no cost to the Sheriff’s Office.

Lt. Crompton says that classes involving lecturers were held and the classes also involved round table discussions. Among the areas of interest for Lt. Crompton was information gained concerning Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among law enforcement officers, which was taught by David Lau, an instructor with the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center. Among the other presenters during the lectures was retired Fire Department of New York firefighter Tim Brown, who was at Ground Zero at the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001, as he taught on how to deal with tragedy, and Lt. Colonel Allen West, who spoke on team leadership.

The biggest takeaway from the Academy, according to Lt. Crompton, was learning how to deal with certain situations that may arise and learning from mistakes that were made in those situations in order to not make those same mistakes again.

“We were very fortunate to get a slot in this leadership academy,” says Oconee County Sheriff Mike Crenshaw. “Lieutenant Crompton brought back some great ideas that will allow our agency to grow professionally. We never stop learning how to better serve our citizens.”

Lieutenant Crompton is part of the Special Operations Division of the Sheriff’s Office and oversees the K-9 unit and the P.A.C.E. (Pro-Active Criminal Enforcement) team. Lt. Crompton is also a supervisor for the S.W.A.T. team.