San Angelo assistant chief completes Texas leadership command college

Assistant Chief Craig Thomasson of the San Angelo Police Department said he recently completed the Law Enforcement Management Institute of Texas’s Leadership Command College, a nine‑week program designed to develop police executives.

"It's one of the best things that I've ever done probably in my career training wise," Thomasson said, describing the course as three three‑week modules with classroom work, a research white paper and a final defense before a panel.

The program, he said, includes leadership theory, ethics and networking across agencies. "It reinstilled those character traits of leadership," Thomasson said, stressing mentorship, accountability and taking care of people as central lessons. Participants earn college credit—Thomasson said the program equates to 12 undergraduate credits and six graduate credits upon completion.

Chief Travis Griffith, host of the Beyond the Badge podcast, and Thomasson said the department is encouraging supervisors to apply for the state‑funded course to expand leadership bench strength. Thomasson emphasized the networking benefit: contacts from other Texas agencies provide practical help when departments face uncommon problems.

Thomasson said his white paper for the course made him a subject‑matter expert on real‑time crime centers, a topic he hopes will guide future departmental projects. He also quoted a program statistic discussed in the course, saying approximately 2% of Texas law‑enforcement personnel have graduated from the Leadership Command College.

The department said it will pursue opportunities to send more supervisors to the program as vacancies and retirements create leadership needs. Thomasson said the training helps him better secure resources, set expectations for subordinates and improve the department’s approach to accountability.

The next step, he said, is applying classroom lessons to supervision, training and policy development within San Angelo’s command staff.