Monday, May 6, 2024
Patrick Wiginton received certification from the Law Enforcement Command Officer Program in August, becoming the 52nd officer in the state to receive this certification.
Wiginton was recognized for this certification during a city council meeting on Sept. 19.
“I know we don’t get to say thank you enough. We appreciate you, and I hope that you’re feeling the joy of being completed with that program,” City Manager Chris Coffman said during the meeting.
Wiginton has been with the Granbury Police Department for 15 years and has served as a Patrol Officer, Sergeant, SWAT Operator, SWAT Commander, and is currently a Patrol Lieutenant. Wiginton also holds a Texas Commission on Law Enforcement Master Peace Officer Certificate and is a 10-year U.S. Army Reserves Veteran and a firearms and Advanced Law Enforcement Rapid Response Training instructor. He is now certified under the LECOP program.
The program is put on by the Texas Police Chief’s Association that has been out for a little over a year where an officer goes through an extensive program. The officer has a choice between two different tracks through the program, with one focusing on personal development leadership and the other on organizational health and integrity.
“This is the first program that was set up for command officers. It’s a certification that helps the up-and-coming leaders in the department to help get a better training and understanding of an organizational type setting,” Mitch Galvan, Granbury Chief of Police said. “The minute it came out I wanted my people to go through it.”
Wiginton chose to take the personal development leadership program and is the first of the three total lieutenants at the Granbury Police Department to finish the program after putting in over a year of time.
The program requires an officer to take 10 courses, six of which are required and four that are electives. Some of the courses include managing patrol operations, managing criminal investigations, managing special operations, managing traffic operations, and more. There is no time requirement on these courses as it goes based off an officer’s availability to participate in the courses.
“It’s a great program for building command staff and preparing them for the next level. I’ll be really pleased when our complete staff has gone through it. We just really push training our people to better prepare them down the line for future law enforcement,” Chief Galvan said.
