Cape Girardeau police Capt. Carl Kinnison is now among the nation's most highly trained police officers. He spent the summer with nearly 250 officers from across the nation and 25 foreign countries, taking a semester's worth of college-level courses at the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.

After a Sept. 5 graduation, Kinnison recently returned home as the 11th officer in his department's history to have participated in the prestigious program. The accomplishment is also notable because only about half of one percent of all U.S. police officers have been invited to attend, he said.

The academy's grueling class work and tests of physical endurance provide officers with specialized training and an opportunity to share ideas and methods. Courses are based in leadership development, behavioral science, law, communication, forensic science and health and fitness. Four, 10-week sessions are held each year at the academy, located at the U.S. Marine Corps Base at Quantico on 385 wooded acres.

The program was founded July 29, 1935, by then FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, as the FBI National Police Training School with 23 students. Since then, the program has graduated 36,759 students, according to the academy's Web site. Of those, 2,351 were international officers from 149 countries.

"Its purpose initially was to provide municipal, state and county law enforcement officers with advanced training in their fields," Kinnison said. "What it has evolved into is much like taking a semester of college courses, with papers, reports, group projects and presentations. From an academic standpoint, it's very intense."

Officers are nominated for the academy by either a ranking officer in their departments or by state, county, or city officials. The nominee must meet several requirements regarding career, physical fitness and reputation. The FBI then chooses from among the candidates. Only three officers from the FBI's Eastern District of Missouri are chosen each year, creating a waiting list that can last from two to five years.

The FBI pays for the academy expenses for the officers, Kinnison said.

"There's no cost to the city, so it's really a great deal," he said.

The most challenging courses for him were graduate school level courses in organizational communications and organizational behavior. But the courses he became most interested in were forensic sciences, law, and terrorism and extremism.

"The information you're exposed to, from an academic and training standpoint, it's second to none," he said.

The dormitory-style living arrangement put Kinnison next door to a lead investigator in the anthrax letter investigation that fueled the country's fear after the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, he said. He also got to know an instructor at the academy who was the FBI's lead agent in last year's Beltway sniper case in Maryland.

"The people you get to know and the information you can glean from them is incredible," Kinnison said.

Other Cape Girardeau graduates include current officers Lt. Tracy Lemonds, Lt. John Davis, Capt. Randy Roddy and chief Steve Strong. Past members of the department who graduated the program are former chief Howard "Butch" Boyd, Lt. Dale Ratliff, Lt. John Brown, Lt. Dennis Dolan, and two deceased officers, Capt. Fred Schneider and Capt. Marshall Morton. Jackson police chief James Humphreys is also an academy graduate.

Lemonds said the networking was also the most valuable part of the experience for him. He graduated in the summer session of 1995.

"The biggest thing that benefits you are the contacts," he said. "You have the ability to pick up a phone and call somebody in another jurisdiction if you need assistance."

Davis agreed, calling the academy "an awesome experience." He keeps up with his fellow graduates through e-mail.

"I met the best officers from all over the world," he said. "I use the networking I made to benefit the police department here almost on a daily basis."

Former chief Boyd was the third member of his department to attend in September 1975. He retired in 1986 after 27 years with the department and eight years as chief.

"I went as a lieutenant, with a bachelors in law enforcement, which I'm sure helped my chances," he said. "A lot of the friends I met there I made for life, and I've still kept in touch with them."

mwells@semissourian.com

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