 The academy graduates four classes per year, with approximately 250
attendees participating in each intensive 10-week course. They stay
on the FBI training campus in Quantico, Va. Only 16 percent of the
attendees are the executive head of their agency. Officers take
undergraduate or graduate college courses and participate in
graduated physical training. They expand their knowledge and skills
in law, behavioral science, forensic science, leadership
development, communication, health and fitness.The academy was
established in 1935 to bring about the standardization and
professionalizing of the law enforcement departments across the
United States through centralized training. According to its mission
statement, the academy seeks to "support, promote, and enhance the
personal and professional development of law enforcement leaders by
preparing them for complex, dynamic, and contemporary challenges
through innovative techniques, facilitating excellence in education
and research, and forging partnerships throughout the world."
At the Oct. 23 meeting of the Lincoln City Council, Geriets
briefed council members on his experience. He began by recognizing
his wife, Christy, also a Lincoln Police Department officer and
mother of their 17-month-old twin girls, stepmom to their
18-year-old and 12-year-old daughters. He said that his wife held
their home together while balancing her career with family.
"Although different, her experience here was probably more difficult
than mine," he said.
Geriets said he received training and valuable information to
pass on to our investigators. What he learned in one of the courses,
Statement Analysis, he felt would be particularly useful. Officers
learn and practice interpreting what is true and what is deception
in oral and written statements by victims or suspects. There can be
false witness provided by victims, such as a false rape accusation,
he said.
"This is not something you can learn overnight," he said. They
were provided plenty of documents to assess and practiced a lot.
Even at that, he plans to continue to practice and learn.
Other courses included examining legal issues. There was
reacquaintance with federal law, the Declaration of Independence and
constitutional amendments, search and seizure, arrests, detection,
and confessions. They also reviewed civil liability, labor and
employment laws.
Communications and media relations is emphasized and practiced
throughout the training. It was especially challenging to stand in
front of his peers and deliver information that they already know
about, he said.
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They also examined contemporary issues. It threw him a bit when he
was assigned a 20-page research paper on counterterrorism. "What
could a police officer from Lincoln, Ill., possibly have to do with
terrorism?" he thought.
He had his eyes opened when Chief Stuart Erlenbush, former member
of the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, was able to steer him on that
subject. It was just a month after the attack on the World Trade
Center that a sleeper agent was arrested by a Peoria officer. Ali al-Marri, a Bradley University graduate, was living right here in
central Illinois. Al-Marri was associated with bioterrorism. He was
laundering money for the terrorist organization al-Qaida.
Al-Marri had cell phone hits on towers from Lincoln southward,
all along Interstate 55. He could have stopped right here in
Lincoln, such as for gas, Geriets said.
"One-quarter of terrorists are arrested by street-level
officers," he said.
Geriets was nominated to the academy under the administration of
Mayor Joan Ritter. It took the typical seven years from the time of
his application before he received the invitation to attend.
An added ongoing benefit will be his increased knowledge of
resources and a network of professional contacts.
Geriets said that he is looking forward to sharing what he has
learned with others in the department. He appreciated the
opportunity the council afforded him by allowing him to go. He was
certain that the benefits of the information he has acquired will
outweigh any drawbacks to sending an officer to this training. He
appreciated the sacrifice made by his fellow officers who covered
for him during his absence.
He said that when he got home his 12-year-old asked him if it was
worth being gone 10 weeks. He reflectively told her that it was
probably the best 10 weeks of his life. He said that she quipped
back, "Well, Dad, to be honest I think it (was) the best 10 weeks
(in) my life too." He's still thinking about that one.
[By JAN YOUNGQUIST]
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