Centenary's ILEESE Holds its 4th Annual Major In-Service Training Event

Hackettstown, N.J. – Centenary College’s Institute for Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Education (ILEESE) held its fourth annual major in-service training event to educate the law enforcement community, on “The Tactical Interview Program,” on June 5, 2012, at Centenary College in the David and Carol Lackland Center.  Two hundred fifty two members of law enforcement were in attendance.  The seminar was funded at no cost to participants through a grant from the United States Department of Justice.

Jerry Lewis, who is a consultant in the areas of behavioral science and statement analysis, led the seminar.  Topics included a psychological analysis of the interview from the viewpoints of the investigator as well as the subject and how an investigator may determine truthfulness, deception and their relative value in an interview.  The strategies are designed to enhance interviewing skills through the application of scientific principles and persuasive techniques.

Lewis specializes in the areas of law enforcement and education.  He spent 25 years in the New Jersey State Police.  During his tenure, he supervised the Violent Crime Analysis and Polygraph Unit.  He currently maintains a relationship with law enforcement agencies throughout the United States as both a consultant and instructor in his areas of expertise.  He possesses a Masters Degree in Education from Seton Hall University, holds an adjunct faculty position with Northwestern University and has been a guest lecturer at the Delaware State Police Homicide School, New Jersey Homicide Investigator’s Association Conference and the New Jersey Missing Persons School.

He has conducted interviews and analyzed statements in thousands of cases involving every type of criminal case.  The techniques he developed over 30 years of experience are based on the science of the mind and result in confessions from 90 percent of guilty subjects, regardless of culture, upbringing, or intelligence.  In 1988, he developed the five day New Jersey State Police Interviewing and Interrogation School.  He has customized training for numerous federal, state, county and local law enforcement agencies such as U.S. Customs, IRS, Chicago PD, Delaware State Police, Anne Arundel County Maryland, RCMP, Ontario Provincial Police, Magloclen, and regularly presents his four-day course at police academies through New Jersey.

“This program will be extremely useful for these professionals,” says Mark Noll, Director of the Institute for Law Enforcement & Emergency Services Education at Centenary College.  “The seminar not only illustrated what to ask and what not to ask, it also outlined how one may analyze statements so as to determine truth and deceit.”

ABOUT THE INSTITUTE FOR LAW ENFORCEMENT & EMERGENCY SERVICES EDUCATION (ILEESE)
This Institute was made possible by a grant of $894,348 awarded to Centenary College from the U.S. Department of Justice to develop a fully-integrated incident response and crisis management training for law enforcement agencies and first responders in small rural and suburban communities in northwest New Jersey, as announced by Congressman E. Scott Garrett in June 2008.  The Institute provides training to approximately 90 towns in Warren, Sussex, and Hunterdon counties.

ABOUT CENTENARY COLLEGE
Founded in 1867 by the Newark Conference of the United Methodist Church, Centenary College’s academic program integrates a solid liberal arts foundation with a strong career orientation. This mix is designed to provide an educational experience that prepares students to succeed in the increasingly global and interdependent world.
 
Centenary College’s main campus is located in Hackettstown, N.J., with its equestrian facility in Washington Township (Morris County).  The Centenary College School of Professional Studies offers degree programs in three locations: Hackettstown, Parsippany and Edison, and at corporate sites throughout New Jersey.  The School of International Programs recruits international students for study at Centenary and Centenary students for study abroad.
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