Headshot of Duane Voss, MS

Duane Voss, MS

Lieutenant (Ret.), San Diego Police Department

Duane Voss, MS

Duane Voss is a 32-year law enforcement veteran and has been in police management since 1999. He started his career as a patrol officer in a small town in Massachusetts, he then worked as a Transit Police Officer in the City of Boston, finally spending the last 28 years with the City of San Diego. Duane has enjoyed a diverse and successful law enforcement career and currently holds the rank of Lieutenant with the San Diego Police Department.

Lt. Voss obtained his BS in Organizational Leadership from Biola University in La Mirada, Calif., and completed his MS in Law Enforcement and Police Safety Leadership (LEPSL) from the University of San Diego.

Training and development have always been a focus of his career. He has worked in Field Training for nearly 30 years, and is a California POST-certified instructor in Law Enforcement Response to Terrorism. His favorite assignment was as the Commanding Officer of the San Diego Police Department’s Canine Unit, where he developed training and created new programs, based on information learned in the LEPSL program. In his current assignment as the Commanding Officer over Traffic Investigations and Fleet Safety, he continues to utilize his experience and knowledge to mentor and coach future law enforcement leaders while overseeing complex and sometimes tricky investigations. His wife of 29 years is a Training Manager for Smith & Noble, a national window treatment company based in Southern California, and shares many training ideas and continues to be his biggest asset.

He and his wife have 3 children: his son earned a physics degree from the University of San Diego and is currently serving in the United States Navy as an aviator, his oldest daughter was a professional ballerina trainee and is now a freshman at the University of Mississippi studying Economics and his youngest daughter is attending The King’s College in New York City studying Media Culture and The Arts. Of all his accomplishments, he considers these his greatest.

Degree Programs

Education

BS in Organizational Leadership - Biola University, California
MS in Law Enforcement and Police Safety Leadership - University of San Diego

Associations

PORAC
SDPOA

Certifications

Sherman Block SLI
San Diego County Leadership Institute
Student Reviews
  • "Professor Voss is very passionate about the law enforcement profession and passing on the 'torch' to the next generation of leaders. He doesn't just 'go by the motions' and always motivates me when he talks to us through his media responses."
    -Summer '24 Student
  • "Prof. Voss provided clear guidance, constructive feedback, and encouragement which fostered a great learning experience."
    -Fall '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss might be the best professor I've had during the LEPSL program. He is more involved than most, maybe all, professors. He is extremely invested in guiding the students through the course. He is very involved in the discussion boards. His video messages, discussion board posts, and grading responses provide an in-depth and personal touch to his communication. I can't say enough good things about Professor Voss."
    -Fall '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss was very helpful and provided great feedback. He was also very responsive to questions. Professor Voss is awesome. I absolutely loved and appreciated that he replied with videos. It really made his engagement more personal and I feel like I really got to know him and his mannerisms. For being an online program, we rarely get the face to face interactions so these videos were pretty awesome."
    -Fall '23 Student
  • "Professor Duane Voss is a master at his craft, balancing heart, patience, understanding, and truth with the need to be firm and fair with grading and feedback. He is supportive and meets with the class during several planned office hours to allow for questions, concerns, and assistance with explanations for clarification. He is an exceptional instructor leading with the main ingredient - HEART."
    -Fall '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss was outstanding. He communicated well, he was very fair in his grading and his feedback was awesome. I really appreciated how he would read my assignments and grade them at face value, instead of going through them with a fine tooth comb to find something to critique. I felt as if P Voss genuinely cares about his students and wants us all to excel in the LEPSL program. I would be happy to see him leading another course."
    -Fall '23 Student
  • "This is my second class with Prof V. He is AWESOME. Very engaging, responsive, and participates in the class. He is responsive to emails and just a great guy."
    -Fall '23 Student
  • "Professor Duane Voss is fully vested and it is apparent that he is desirous of having his students not just learn the material, but be able to carry the information back into their agencies/departments. He is accessible, engaging, informative, supportive and a great leader."
    -Summer '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss was more involved, excited, and invested in our learning than the average professor. He took extra time to make and post frequent videos to communicate with the class, and he was regularly involved with the group discussions, providing valuable insight to the cohort."
    -Summer '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss was the most engaged instructor I have had so far. This class was particularly stressful because of the group project, and he really helped alleviate most of that stress. His videos were good and really made him seem like a real person rather than just some stranger who grades your papers."
    -Summer '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss was awesome! He was very engaged and provided thoughtful response. I especially appreciated his videos regarding the assignments. I was usually busy with my kids sports so I was not able to make his office hours. However, the fact that they were recorded was extremely beneficial."
    -Spring '23 Student
  • "I can not say enough good things about instructor Voss. He is very competent, patient, and understanding. His office hours were very valuable and of tremendous benefit in the learning and explaining process. Excellent in every way."
    -Spring '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss is great. He is timely with his grading and very consistent. He runs a great office hour(s) and his zoom sessions were engaging. I am very thankful he was one of my instructors and I hope we meet again in another module."
    -Spring '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss reminds me of one of my more impactful teachers in high school. His own experiences and willingness to share them speak volumes about his wanting to have something to relate to where his students are concerned. He is a breath of fresh air with a more engaging approach to teaching."
    -Spring '23 Student
  • "This was my second course with professor Duane Voss. Once again, he provided clear instructions and expectations and communicated thoroughly in his announcements. Additionally, every week he provided valuable input during discussions."
    -Spring '23 Student
  • "The explanations and support from Professor Voss greatly enhanced the learning environment. He availed himself for explanation and held multiple office hour zooms to field questions from us as a class. His ability to be realistic about all in the profession is unmatched."
    -Spring '23 Student
  • "Professor Voss was an excellent teacher. He provided constructive feedback on all the assignments and it showed that he took the time and effort when correcting them. Professor Voss encouraged the importance of the office hours and I was able to get to know a few of my classmates and extend my professional contact list."
    -Fall '22 Student
  • "Professor Voss was excellent. He was the most engaging professor I've had thus far. He really went above and beyond in connecting with students through his weekly videos and Zoom office hours. He provided extensive feedback in assignments and on the discussion boards."
    -Fall '22 Student
  • "Professor Voss was SUPER interactive. He hosted weekly zoom meetings, posted new videos constantly with him talking to us, was very responsive to emails, and seemed to be deeply invested in our learning. He also held our work to a high standard, which I appreciated."
    -Fall '22 Student
  • "Professor Voss held many Office Hours over the course of the class, which were very helpful. He made sure to discuss the expectations of the weekly assignments as well and made the "online" learning experience much more personable. This was my first course where it felt as if the professor really cared about the interpersonal relationships between his students. By providing different times and dates for office hours, Professor Voss went out of his way to try to accommodate everyone."
    -Fall '22 Student
  • "Professor Voss was an amazing Professor. His 'Around Town' videos were engaging and fun and also contributed to this course from an outside California perspective which was necessary for this course. Additionally, he afforded me the opportunity to re-work and resubmit my Module 2 assignment after struggling. He was precise, fair, and communicative throughout this course."
    -Fall '22 Student
  • "Professor Voss was innovative with his YouTube posts and stayed engaged all week. He didn't speak down to the class, rather he acted as a peer and more of a class facilitator which was a good change. He was contemporary with his teaching methods and made himself available weekly with Zoom meetings and course announcements. Lastly, he was consistently on time with grading and feedback especially when assignments were turned in early. We are all anxious to see our grades or to obtain feedback for the next assignment. It is not fun to turn in your paper on the weekend and have to wait four days to get your grade, so thank you."
    -Fall '22 Student
  • "Professor Voss was outstanding. Very responsive and engaging. He brought great energy to the class. Really enjoyed him leading the class."
    -Summer '22 Student
  • "Professor Duane Voss is a fantastic leader in the teaching profession. I like that he was clear about not sugarcoating what is needed for improvement in law enforcement. I find that many (not professors, but those of us in uniform) tend to immediately defend everything about officers' actions, NO MATTER WHAT. Professor Voss's clear open door about not doing this made it a more comfortable environment to express and learn. His meetings with the students and discussion (reading of overall objectives) via video clips added to and enhanced the learning. There was no mystery; he encouraged education and gave feedback and support. I thoroughly enjoyed being a student in his class and applauded his teaching style in the online setting."
    -Summer '22 Student
  • "Professor Voss was an amazing professor. Extremely helpful outside of class, always making himself available to talk. Shows that he cares for his students all the time."
    -Summer '21 Student
  • "Professor Voss works hard to ensure his students succeed. I greatly appreciate the amount of time and effort he puts into the course and students. He gives students every opportunity to provide a quality work product and provides excellent feedback to improve their assignments. I have had several courses with Professor Voss and enjoyed all of them. While data analysis is not my favorite subject, Professor Voss made the course enjoyable and interesting. I know he is retiring from SDPD in a few months, but hope he is staying on with USD for LEPSL's sake."
    -Summer '21 Student
  • "Professor Voss is my third professor and is tied with Mr. Fitzvold as of now. He is engaging, not shy to jump in the DB and get a conversation going. He graded quickly and is very detailed in his responses/critics. I have improved as a student/writer/police officer because of him and this class. I look forward to learning with him again in later courses."
    -Spring '21 Student
  • "I really enjoyed Professor Voss. He was VERY responsive in grading assignments and provided valuable feedback. He held a couple of ZOOM office hours which allowed the students to speak with him and others directly. It was nice to put a name and a face together. His office hours were varied which helped with my schedule. I really enjoyed his enthusiasm for the course. You could tell by the dialogue in discussions, during office hours, and with assignment feedback."
    -Spring '21 Student
  • "Professor Voss availed himself at every opportunity and gave me opportunities to correct and improve my assignments. His critiques were pointed and explained how be meet his standards. He had high but fair expectations for his students and sadly for me, some my submissions did not meet his standards. He is an excellent professor."
    -Spring '21 Student
  • "Professor Voss is a phenomenal instructor skilled at always providing an avenue for improvement (no matter how minor). His feedback is constructive and never overly critical."
    -Spring '21 Student
  • "What a fantastic instructor I had the pleasure of learning from in this class. Very professional with a lot of experience. He knows very well how to motivate and challenge the students to think and develop better ideas for DB and assignments."
    -Spring '21 Student
  • "Professor Voss continues to be a large part of why the LEPSL program is so great. Professor Voss is both engaging and supportive in his teaching style. Unforeseen circumstances changed this course and I was very impressed on how this was handled by both instructors. Professor Voss genuinely cared about what we were going through at our agencies and encouraged us to discuss the steps in which we were dealing with the crisis. In my opinion, it was the discussion and bonding during a crisis that made this course my best experience yet. The instructors and content of LEPSL are second to none in our industry."
    -Spring '20 Student
  • "Professor Voss sets the bar for instructors in LEPSL. Professor Voss is invested in student learning and makes himself available. Professor Voss' use of Zoom meeting is extremely helpful and also makes the course more personal. Professor Voss is a great mentor offering students real suggestions and ideas in both their course work and professional work. I am grateful for having him again as an instructor."
    -Spring '20 Student
  • "Section Instructor Voss was the best instructor I have ever had in LE or college. He consistently interacted with us and was always available to answer questions or provide encouragement. Lt. Voss constantly pushed you to do better and recognized you when you did great work. This is my first class at USD and Professor Voss has set the bar really high!"
    - Summer'19 Student
  • "Prof. Voss displays an excellent approach to personal/positive interaction with the students while adhering to high standards in assisting the students in maximizing their skills and reach their full potential as students and leaders. This is my second class with Prof. Voss, and I have truly enjoyed the experience. He is a terrific example of what LEPSL should entail."
    - Spring '19 Student
  • "Lt. Voss was an incredible first instructor. It has been so long since I have been in school and he made this challenging experience much more manageable. He was readily available for questions and responded very quickly. He was understanding, approachable, and insightful. He actively participated in all discussions and provided excellent experiences, prompting questions, and general feedback. He was very fair in his grading practices and his constructive comments were well received. I couldn't have asked for a better first instructor and look forward to future classes with him."
    - Spring '19 Student
  • "I very much appreciated Prof. Voss allowing flexibility within the course. He really did express a personal interest in the success of all his students and their concerns and pursuits outside of this course."
    - Spring '19 Student
  • "One of the top instructors that I have had thus far. Very involved and feedback was great."
    - Spring '19 Student

Capt. Tim Gately, Redmond Police Department
MS-LEPSL Alumnus

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