Advancing Pretrial Policy and Research (APPR) and the National Association of Pretrial Services Agencies (NAPSA) are offering a free webinar, Leading from the Middle: Developing Staff and Future Leaders. The webinar is on Wednesday, December 9, 2026, from 2 to 3:30 p.m. ET.
About the Training
Pretrial supervisors play a pivotal role in shaping officer performance, professional judgment, and public safety outcomes. Positioned between executive leadership and frontline staff, middle managers influence how pretrial officers apply evidence-based practices, assess risk, communicate with the court, and engage people in the earliest stage of the justice process.
Back by popular demand following a well-attended and highly rated session at the 2026 NAPSA Annual Conference, this online training offers practical methods to strengthen officer skills, provide meaningful feedback, and create clear pathways for professional growth in pretrial services. Whether supervising veterans or onboarding new officers, participants will leave with actionable tools to help them lead effectively from the middle.
Learning Objectives
- Analyze the leadership responsibilities of middle managers in pretrial services and their impact on officer performance and court outcomes.
- Apply structured coaching strategies to strengthen officers’ use of evidence-based practices, risk assessment tools, and professional judgment.
- Develop practical strategies to cultivate leadership capacity among pretrial staff through intentional feedback, stretch assignments, and decision-making opportunities.
Training Faculty
Troy Hatfield, senior manager, Center for Effective Public Policy
Mr. Hatfield serves as a substantive expert, trainer, and technical assistance provider on pretrial and probation issues for CEPP. He also develops new resources for community supervision practitioners. Mr. Hatfield previously worked in the criminal justice field for over 25 years, beginning his career as a juvenile probation officer. For more than 15 years he served as the deputy chief probation officer for the Monroe Circuit Court Probation Department in Indiana, overseeing adult and juvenile probation and the Court Alcohol and Drug Program. He also helped create a legal and evidence-based pretrial services program and spearheaded Reducing Revocations Challenge activities for the jurisdiction, facilitating data collection and developing policy and practice. He served as an adjunct faculty member at Indiana University, teaching a course on probation and parole. Mr. Hatfield holds a BA in criminal justice and psychology from Indiana University and an MS in criminology from Indiana State University.
Registration Process
If you are interested in attending the training session on December 9, please complete the training registration.
Please direct any questions to Samuel Steed, operations assistant at the Center for Effective Public Policy, at ssteed@cepp.com.
