James Senegal wants to help elevate the profession of law enforcement from police chiefs to front line officer.
Senegal, a former Captain at the Magnolia Police Department, recently joined the Bill Blackwood Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas (LEMIT) as the Director of Professional Development. He hopes to extend the prestigious professional development programs offered to top leaders in law enforcement to patrol personnel.
“I want to give back to law enforcement and to help elevate the profession,” said Senegal. “Law enforcement is a profession, like doctors and lawyers, and I want to develop more leadership programs to target the line officers.”
Senegal has been in law enforcement for 13 years. Before serving as second in command at the Magnolia Police Department, he was a Police Officer and SWAT Team Leader for the Hempstead Police Department and a Police Sergeant for the North Forest Independent School District. Senegal is active in many professional associations, including the Texas Police Chiefs Association, Texas Municipal Police Association, FBI Law Enforcement Executive Development Association, International Association of Chiefs of Police, and East Central Texas Police Chiefs Association.
Senegal also serves as a Board Member for the OneStar Foundation and a Commissioner for the OneStar National Service Commission, both of which are appointments from Texas Governor Greg Abbott, which builds a stronger nonprofit sector for better communities through programs like AmeriCorps. He also serves as an instructor for Below 100 Intensive, an initiative designed to reduce death and injuries suffered by law enforcement officers in the line of duty through training and awareness.
LEMIT currently offers several programs that promote personal and professional development among law enforcement officers. There include:
- The Post Critical Incident Seminar for officers who need assistance following traumatic incidents, such as police shootings, accidents, or suicides
- The LIFE program for female officers interested in advancing in the law enforcement field
- Public Information Officer for officers involved in disseminating information to the media on a day-to-day basis or during crisis situations
- Incident Command Simulation Training for High Consequence Events for officers to learn the national incident command model for disaster response and management
- Larry T. Hoover Distinguished Lecture Series, which invites prominent criminal justice scholars to discuss research with practical applications in the field
- Forensic Statement Analysis for officers and investigators to learn how to detect deception and hidden information in a person’s written or oral statements
- The Definitive Field Training Officer and Program Administrators Course for officers and supervisors to provide a more effective training experience for new officers
- Crimes Against the Elder for officers to learn how to investigate cases of elder abuse, such as neglect, physical abuse, financial exploration, and emotional abuse
- Crossing the Yellow Line – Serial Killer for officers to learn techniques and tools for investigating complex cases
- New Supervisor Course for officers to be successful in their first supervisory position
