Charles County Sheriff Rex W. Coffey is pleased to announce the graduation of Cpl. John Elliott from the Johns Hopkins University on May 27. Cpl. Elliott received his Masters of Science degree in Management. “I’m proud of John and his dedication to continuing his studies,” said Sheriff Coffey. “I’m sure much of what he learned can be applied to his position on our Agency.”
Cpl. Elliott was among 24 graduates of the program which started in September 2008. He attended classes every other Friday and Saturday for nearly 20 months until he completed his studies. “The experience and education I gained through my Masters program was invaluable, professionally and personally. I learned a tremendous amount of material which will contribute to my current position, the agency, and the community. An important element of management which I learned was that a leader is not defined by their rank, but rather their ability to help other people achieve their goals while maintaining their confidence and integrity,” said Cpl. Elliott joined the Charles County Sheriff’s Office in 2000 after serving three years with the Metro Transit Police Department. He worked in patrol until 2004 and transferred to the Criminal Investigations Division where he was initially assigned to investigate property crimes such as burglaries.
From there, Cpl. Elliott transferred to the Special Victims Unit where he investigated sexual assaults and missing persons. His current assignment is in the Major Crimes Unit where he investigates robberies and homicides.
According to the Johns Hopkins Web site, “The Johns Hopkins PELP Program is an intense course of study for public safety executives leading to a graduate degree in management. The award-winning program has been cited as one of the premier public safety executive education programs in the nation. The curriculum consists of 15 three-credit courses covering areas including leadership, change management, building quality organizations, management decision-making and ethics and integrity.” Students who successfully complete the 45-credit PELP graduate program are awarded the Master of Science in Management degree. “I completed this program while maintaining my case load and working a full schedule that included call out’s and court; the challenge was worth the reward,” said Elliott.
