Yorkville police brass complete FBI advanced leadership program

YORKVILLE – Some people are born leaders, but it never hurts to develop leadership skills through formal training.

The Yorkville Police Department has plenty of natural talent among its top-level commanders and they are making the most of their leadership abilities.

Four of the department’s ranking officers recently completed an FBI advanced leadership program.

They include Deputy Chief of Field Operations Ray Mikolasek, Deputy Chief of Support Services Behr Pfizenmaier, Commander Garrett Carlyle and Sergeant Sam Stroup.

Police Chief Jim Jensen introduced the group to the Yorkville City Council at the May 24 meeting.

“You have the best command staff in Kendall County,” Jensen told the council.

The four officers traveled to the Aurora Police Department headquarters and other locations for the FBI training sessions, which were operated through the Law Enforcement Executive Development Association.

The LEEDA training course focuses on building relationships with subordinates and how to get the best performance from them.

“It was learning about your people and different ways to lead,” Pfizenmaier said. “You learn what motivates your people.”

Carlyle described the training as “a crash course” in leadership. He said meeting police commanders from other departments was beneficial.

“We all deal with the same issues,” Carlyle said.