Sacramento State professor recognized for developing scholars-to-officers program
Dr. Shelby Moffatt was recognized Wednesday by the Sacramento Police Department for his service to California State University, Sacramento, and the development of the Law Enforcement Candidate Scholars (LECS) program he started in 2016.
Sacramento Police Chief Daniel Hahn spoke about Moffatt’s work to better department recruiting. Hahn expressed his gratitude for the work that Moffatt has done with the program, preparing the next generation of officers.
“We get much more diversity and much more highly qualified people to go through the academy who are much more successful in the academy because of the work of Moffatt and the LECS program,” Hahn said ahead of Wednesday’s event to honor Moffatt.
Hahn awarded Moffatt a glass plaque symbolizing LECS’ five-year milestone, and they were joined by the members of the Police Department, California Highway Patrol and LECS graduates.
For the last five years, Moffatt’s LECS program provided a scholars-to-officers initiative that provides resources for students and gives them a direct lineage to career opportunities in law enforcement.
More than 70% of the LECS students are people of color and over 40% are women.
Since its inception, over 200 participants have graduated from the LECS program. Roughly one out of every four students have been admitted into sworn law enforcement academies, according to a news release from the LECS program. One of the first graduates of the program was the late-Tara Sullivan.
“’I’m so proud of the students that we’ve seen not only go through the LECS program, but now become sworn law enforcement officers with the Sacramento Police Department and the California Highway Patrol,” said Moffatt.
Moffatt — a retired officer, who served 17 years with Sacramento Police from 1988 to 2005 — began teaching at Sacramento State in 2000 as an adjunct professor in the criminal justice department.
Moffatt contributed to building the next generation of officers by teaching the Robert Peel philosophy, emphasizing community relations where the community is a part of policing, and the police are a part of the community.
He wanted to develop more culturally competent officers that can apply their knowledge into the field every day.
“I took a class with Dr. Moffatt and he brought it to my interest,” said Joshua Heredia, a graduate of the LECS program, now a sworn Sacramento officer. “I was an ethnic studies major, I was looking into a career in law enforcement.”
This story was originally published October 27, 2021 at 1:24 PM.
