Dawson County Sheriff Jeff Johnson recently completed participation in the 115th session of the National Sheriffs’ Institute (NSI) held in Aurora, Colo., from Sept. 24-28.

The NSI is the only national executive development program designed for sheriffs. This no-cost program is cosponsored by the National Institute of Corrections (NIC) and the National Sheriffs’ Association (NSA).               

Johnson joined 28 other sheriffs from across the country for training on contemporary challenges facing America’s sheriffs today. In light of those challenges, the sheriffs explored the role of the local sheriff in providing effective leadership for the public good in such areas as public safety, criminal justice system policy, community relations, and organizational effectiveness and efficiency.

The NIC is a division of the U.S. Department of Justice Bureau of Prisons. It is the primary federal source of technical assistance, training and information services for state and local corrections. NIC provides a wide variety of services to the nation’s jails, most of which are the responsibility of sheriffs.

The NSA is a non-profit professional association located in Alexandria, Va. NSA represents the nearly 3,100 elected sheriffs across the nation and has more than 20,000 members, including law enforcement professionals, state and federal government employees, concerned citizens, students and others.

Since 1940, NSA has served as an information clearinghouse for law enforcement professionals. NSA also provides management training for sheriffs and their personnel in court security, crime victim services, domestic violence intervention/investigation, homeland security initiatives, jail operations and traffic safety.

Additionally, NSA administers the National Neighborhood Watch and Triad programs.