Nov. 23--NIAGARA FALLS -- It's been called the most challenging and the most worthwhile experience in law enforcement.
Only a few are chosen to participate and those that do say it changes them for the better and forever.
So it was probably no surprise that Niagara County Sheriff's Office Chief Kevin Smith and Falls Police Lt. Roger Freeman jumped at the chance to spend 10 weeks in intense training at the FBI's National Academy.
"It is the ultimate in career development," Smith said. "If you aspire to grow (in law enforcement), you need as much education and training as you can get."
Freeman followed a host of Falls police lieutenants like Mike Kachurek, Kelly Rizzo, Bryan DalPorto, captains like William Thomson and Les Kachurek, and even Superintendent John Chella, to the school located adjacent to the U.S. Marine Corps base in Quantico, Va.
"They told me, 'Go. You will enjoy yourself and make life-long friends,' " Freeman said. "They were so right."
For Freeman, a 16-year NFPD vet who spent time in patrol, as a warrants officer and as a detective, before becoming a patrol division lieutenant, the educational opportunities afforded by the National Academy were too good to pass up.
"It was one of those opportunities to get the kind of courses that don't come up in this area," he said. "And, you get to choose your courses based on your interests."
Smith, who joined the sheriff's office as a part-time corrections officer in 1997, before moving to patrol a year later and becoming a sergeant 10 years after that, also looked to focus on course work that he felt would help his career and his department. After spending the last year and a half as co-director of the Niagara County Law Enforcement Academy, Smith felt a focus on leadership training would be best.
With his recent promotion to chief, in charge of the county jail, Smith says that was the right choice.
"It certainly prepared me for this," Smith said, with a smile. "(The instructors) are the leaders in their fields and there is a lot of two-way conversation (between the instructors and students)."
In Smith's case, he struck up a friendship with an instructor who just happens to be the chief in charge of the Hillsborough County, Fla. jail. It's one of the largest in that state.
"I can pick up the phone and call him anytime with a question, because he has done it" Smith said. "There isn't anything I'm going to run into here that he hasn't experienced."
Freeman said everyone at the academy encouraged him and Smith to use them as resources even after they returned to Niagara County.
"One of the things they stress is the networking," Freeman said. "You have all these people who, if you have problems, you can pick up the phone and call them. If I hadn't gone to the National Academy, I wouldn't have the connections to do that."
Like Freeman, Smith spoke with academy grad and Sheriff's Captain Mike Filicetti about what to expect during the training. He also asked fellow military reserve officer DalPorto what the academy was like.
"He compared it a lot to officer school, as far as the (performance) expectations," Smith said. "Without the screaming and yelling (by instructors)."
Both Smith and Freeman took the physical challenge of completing the academy's famed Yellow Brick Road program. The Yellow Brick Road is an optional fitness challenge that consists of a 6.1 mile run through a hilly, wooded trail filled with obstacles and built by the nearby Marines.
Freeman and Smith found themselves climbing over walls, running through creeks, jumping through simulated windows, scaling rock faces with ropes, crawling under barbed wire in muddy water, maneuvering across a cargo net and more.
The prize after completion: A yellow brick to memorialize their achievement.
"The physical part (of the academy) is the most challenging part," Smith said. "The most challenging part (of the Yellow Brick Road) was the last 3 miles. You go through all the obstacles and you get to the last 3 miles and the first thing you see is a quarter of a mile (high) hill."
Freeman, who is a physical training instructor at the Niagara County academy, also took part in the National Academy "Strong Man" competition. Among his competitors, a former defensive lineman with the Atlanta Falcons, who is now an Idaho state trooper.
"He was huge," Freeman said, with a laugh. "He was like 6-feet 7-inches tall and I mean he was chiseled. He won his division."
Freeman says he's even incorporating some of the National Academy's physical training regimen's into his program at the Niagara County academy.
"(The National Academy) can pull people in from anywhere," Freeman said. "Going out and getting that training is cutting edge."
Smith agreed, saying anyone with the opportunity to go to the National Academy shouldn't think twice.
"Absolutely," he said. "You'd be foolish not to go if you have the aspiration to grow in your department."
Copyright 2011 - Niagara Gazette, Niagara Falls, N.Y.
