After the completion of workshop six of Command College, students are required to produce a written body of work on an emerging issue selected by each student. This work is in the form of a professional article and must be completed and approved by POST before students will be given credit for course completion. Completed articles will be submitted to a magazine or periodical in general circulation.

Students will be given a guidebook, "Writing Your Command College Article" (pdf) created by Bob Harrison, also a Command College graduate, to help students through the writing process. The guidebook is written to logically present the skills in a sequence that will help students work from one step to another with a minimum of redundant work, and in a fashion that allows the student to construct the components of their article, then link them together to form the finished work.

Article Objectives

Participant will demonstrate learning of program objectives and make a contribution to law enforcement by engaging in the following:

• Identify emerging issues
• Develop strategies that impact the issues
• Prepare for change
• Develop an evaluation approach for monitoring original forecasts
• Share information with other law enforcement professionals

The purpose of the Article is to provide an opportunity to share the work and knowledge of Command College students with others. It provides a means by which members of the student’s agency can be informed of, and subsequently prepare for, alternative futures. The issues selected and forecasted by the students are also of interest to law enforcement professionals and futurists throughout the United States and other countries. Providing information in an informative and readable document is of value for strategic planning, policy development, and other purposes.

Article Guidelines

• Identify an emerging issue, with a futures focus of at least five years
• Describe the historical development of the issue
• Engage in activities that will provide information about a probable future
• Write at least three scenarios that describe possible futures, then develop a strategic plan based on one of the scenarios and a model agency
• Develop a transition management plan that prepares the organization for change
• If appropriate, discuss budgeting implications and funding sources
• Develop a set of recommendations
• Describe follow-up and/or evaluation activities that will be implemented
• Describe the implications the issue has on leadership
• Answer the issue question posed in the introduction