LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan Department of Corrections (MDOC) is launching the L.E.A.D. Academy, a new leadership development program set to begin this fall as part of the department’s Safe Prisons Initiative.

L.E.A.D. Academy stands for Learn Today, Empower Tomorrow, Aspire Beyond, Develop a Legacy.

Officials say the program is a four-phase leadership development pathway designed to support employee growth at every stage of a career, and intends to advance training and staff support goals by preparing employees to lead “with skill, integrity and professionalism.”

“Our workforce is constantly evolving, and it is more important than ever that we are supporting our emerging leaders in a way that will create change-makers and thought-leaders in the correctional field,” MDOC Director Heidi E. Washington said. “Well-trained professional staff create safe facilities by stepping above the status quo to challenge themselves, and those around them, to go above and beyond.”

MDOC partnered with Michigan State University to develop the program’s curriculum, focusing on leadership principles applied specifically to the corrections environment.

According to the MDOC, the program emphasizes daily conduct, communication, presence and professionalism as factors that can influence others and contribute to safer facilities.

“The curriculum is designed to help participants develop practical leadership skills rooted in communication, emotional intelligence, professionalism, and ethical decision-making,” Vivian Aranda-Hughes, an assistant professor in MSU’s School of Criminal Justice, said. “We are excited to support a program that invests in people and recognizes that leadership is demonstrated through the choices, actions, and influence individuals bring to their work every day.”

Applicants for the L.E.A.D. Academy will be selected through a formal review process after applying for the program, according to the MDOC.

To be eligible, applicants must meet the following requirements: one year of MDOC employment, attainment of satisfactory status during the initial probationary period, and full commitment to the program, including assignments outside the classroom.

Officials say the L.E.A.D. Academy is a key component of the state’s Safe Prisons Initiative, which was launched in March to improve safety and security across MDOC’s 26 prisons.

More information about MDOC’s Safe Prisons Initiative can be found online.

Police in Birmingham, Michigan, say officers should have shut down a massive pool party in a residential neighborhood sooner last weekend. 

More than 100 people showed up for a party in the 300 block of Westchester Way on June 13, when city officials say a private residential pool was rented out to a third party, violating zoning regulations.

“While officers shut the party down and issued multiple citations, the department acknowledges the party should have been shut down earlier,” said Birmingham police Chief Scott Grewe in a social media post. “Protecting public safety and preserving the quality of life in Birmingham neighborhoods remain top priorities. Should an event require intervention in the future, there will be police supervision to ensure the orderly and safe dispersal of attendees.

Homeowners on Westchester Way told CBS News Detroit that the street was filled with cars and some intoxicated partygoers.

“Women, I don’t even know if they were wearing anything, thong bikinis on top of vehicles, twerking,” said homeowner Brian Homer.

Birmingham police confirmed the individual who rented the backyard over the weekend was a promoter. Police say the homeowner and the person who rented the pool were among those who received citations. 

Residents told CBS News Detroit that the house has been hosting parties for years and that its pool is listed on Swimply for rent.

“This isn’t the first time; this has been ongoing. This is just the first time he got caught,” said a resident who shares a fence with the homeowner who is renting their pool.

During a Birmingham City Commission meeting Monday night, Birmingham Mayor Clinton Baller said that the city had failed in this case. 

Homeowners who spoke with CBS News Detroit said they are concerned about their safety, given that the neighborhood is filled with children.

In April, three men were arrested and later charged in connection with a shooting at a short-term rental in the 1400 block of East Lincoln Street. According to police, a party was advertised at the rental home, and three 18-year-old men drove up to the property, where other teens were gathering, when an argument ultimately led to a shooting. 

Warren — Skateboarders flew through the air at Macomb County’s Eckstein Skatepark, launching off concrete ramps as spectators looked on from the surrounding rows of vendor tents.

Punk rock music from a band on the Creative Grind Fest stage echoed across the park as veteran skateboarders — and a legend in the sport — stood alongside the youngest, offering help and encouragement. Among them was 4-year-old Nikky Bukobich, who said the first thing he learned on a skateboard was “to fall.”

Bill Danforth, a Grosse Pointe South High School graduate, surveyed the scene. With buzzed silver hair, limited edition Danforth Vans sneakers and a white T-shirt, the 60-year-old skateboarding trailblazer talked with fans and signed boards.

“Young skateboarders are the future of the sport, and will be able to carry it on long after we are not,” Danforth told The Detroit News. “You’re never done with skateboarding. But after we slow down, they got to keep that tradition going.”

Danforth returned to Metro Detroit last weekend as one of the newest inductees into the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, making appearances at Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf — which Danforth credits with keeping skateboarding alive in Michigan — and Warren’s Creative Grind Fest. As the skateboarding industry continues to grow, Danforth’s induction offers a look back at the figures who helped shape the sport’s early years.

Grosse Pointe meets California

Danforth was drawn to skateboarding as a Grosse Pointe youth when he realized it allowed him to express his creativity like no other sport did.  

“I played organized sports when I was a kid. I played hockey, I played baseball, I played golf,” he said. “Skateboarding was unique, and it had no rules. We created our own groove.” 

Danforth started skating wherever he could: “Most of it was at schoolyards or loading docks. This is before we were even building ramps.”

Then, in 1978, Detroit’s Endless Summer Skatepark opened in Roseville and Danforth began competing through the Great Lakes Skateboarding Association. These competitions drew attention to Danforth and other Midwest skaters from some of the largest industry groups on the West Coast, earning Danforth a sponsorship from Madrid Skateboards. 

“We started getting recognized by California,” Danforth said. “All of a sudden we were sponsored by California companies — we’re getting free skateboards, we’re getting free wheels and we’re getting free components.” 

‘Style is faster, more charged’

Art director and brand manager for Madrid Skateboards, Eagle Barber, said that Danforth stood out from others in the way he skated.  

“His style is faster, it’s more charged. He was never an apprehensive, laid-back skater,” Barber said. “He was always going faster and bigger, and he had a very certain air of intimidation about him.”  

Michigan professional skateboarder Garold Vallie, a close friend, added that Danforth was known for skating anything and everything.

“He could skate big halfpipes, but he could skate street,” Vallie said. “He could skate anything. He had his own style, and people gravitated towards that.”

Jerry Shirts, a skater and artist selling his spraypainted road signs at the festival, had often been inspired by Danforth’s tricks on the board, he said: “He was a big influence on me when I first started skating. I had seen him in the mags and such, and then realized he was from Michigan, so he was my favorite local skater. I copied all his tricks.”

Danforth was also unique simply for being a Michiganian. Todd Huber, founder and CEO of the Skateboarding Hall of Fame, said Danforth emerged from a region rarely associated with professional skateboarding. 

“He wasn’t from California, and California kind of got the spotlight. He was from Detroit, no spotlight was on him,” Huber said. “He was cut from a different cloth, and he did things differently.” 

Growing up in Michigan forced skaters like Danforth to be resourceful: “We had to fight a lot of issues just to be a skateboarder in Michigan. Nothing was given to us; we earned it out of our own blood, sweat and tears. We were skateboarders without attitudes in the Midwest. California was a bunch of attitudes with skateboards.” 

‘The American Nomad’

The same determination that helped Danforth break into the sport also took him far beyond Michigan. Danforth flew, drove and hitchhiked across the world, skating any terrain he could find and earning him the nickname “The American Nomad.”

His journeys included a trip to Tahiti in the 1980s. Intended as a skateboarding clinic and demonstration tour, the trip turned into what Danforth called an unexpected adventure when political unrest erupted on the island. Danforth evacuated before continuing his travels through New Zealand and Australia.

Stories like these helped make him one of skateboarding’s most recognizable figures during the 1980s. 

“He had the number one-selling board in the United Kingdom. He had one of the number one-selling boards in America,” said George Leichtweis, founder of Royal Oak’s Modern Skate & Surf. “And he would go anywhere with anybody in skating, and that’s a level of respect to the core of skateboarding.” 

Memorabilia, renewed demand

Today, one of Danforth’s signature boards is part of the Smithsonian’s collection, alongside a copy of “Street Survival,” an instructional VHS video starring Danforth that helped teach a generation of skateboarders. 

“He was definitely a really influential skater of the ’80s,” said Jane Rogers, a curator with the Smithsonian. “His board had a lot of cool elements — the graphic and the way the board was shaped. The circle of skulls definitely represents that time.”