Rick Smith, Chief of Police
1 Union St.
Wakefield, MA 01880
For Immediate Release
Monday, Dec. 29, 2014
Contact: John Guilfoil
Phone: 617-993-0003
Email: john@jgpr.net
Wakefield Police Lieutenant Steven Skory Graduates from the FBI National Academy
WAKEFIELD — Police Chief Rick Smith is pleased to report that Lieutenant Steven Skory has successfully completed and graduated from the 258th session of the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.
Lieutenant Skory was rewarded for his achievement at the formal ceremony in Quantico on Friday December 19, 2014 with his family in attendance.
“This is a great honor for another member of our Department to be selected and graduate from the National Academy,” Chief Smith said.
Chief Smith is a graduate of the 176th session in 1994 and past President of the New England Chapter of the FBI National Academy Graduates. Lieutenant Skory will join Lieutenant Craig Calabrese and Lieutenant Scott Reboulet who attended and graduated in the 241st and 250th sessions respectively.
With Lieutenant Skory’s graduation, the entire Wakefield Police Department Command Staff has not completed the FBI National Academy, a program which is considered a major barometer of professional status in law enforcement.
The FBI National Academy is a professional course of study for U.S. and international law enforcement leaders that serves to improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies at home and abroad and to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation worldwide. Participation is by invitation only, though a nomination process. Participants are drawn from every state in the union, from U.S. territories, and from over 150 international partner nations.
As a graduate, Lieutenant Skory will join the less than one tenth of one percent of law enforcement officers in the world to attend this esteemed program. Competition for slots is very demanding. Following graduation, each officer has the opportunity to join the FBI National Academy Associates, a dynamic organization of more than 15,000 law enforcement professionals who actively work to continue developing higher levels of competency, cooperation, and integrity across the law enforcement community.
Lieutenant Skory, like all graduates, makes a huge personal sacrifice. They are separated from their families for ten weeks; leaving loved ones at home to manage the day to day duties. “This speaks volumes to the commitment these officers have to their duties as law enforcement managers” says Chief Smith. “Ten weeks is a long time for your spouse and young children. I can honestly state that our family, the family at the Wakefield Police Department, watches over the families while the candidate is away and we are proud of that”.
“I am proud of Lieutenants Calabrese, Reboulet and Skory for their completion of this intense program,” Chief Smith said. “They took the challenge, worked hard and now have joined the elite group of modern police managers who are the future of police management. I am sure that this was the vision that Director J. Edgar Hoover held when he created the “National Police Training School” in 1935. We are proud to have a leading role in furthering his mission.”
The FBI National Academy was created in July 29, 1935, with 23 students in attendance, in response to a 1930 study by the Wickersham Commission that recommended the standardization and professionalization of the law enforcement departments across the U.S. through centralized training. With strong support from the International Association of Chiefs of Police and with the authority of Congress and the Department of Justice, the “FBI Police Training School” was born. Courses at that time included scientific aids in crime detection, preparation of reports, criminal investigation techniques, and administration and organization. With the advent of World War II, courses were added in espionage and sabotage.
For 10 weeks, four times a year, classes of some 250 command officers take undergraduate and/or graduate college courses in the residential environment at the Quantico, Virginia, campus in the following areas: law, behavioral science, forensic science, understanding terrorism/terrorist mindsets, leadership development, communication, and health/fitness. Officers participate in a wide range of leadership and specialized training, and they share ideas, techniques, and experiences with each other, creating lifelong partnerships that span state and international lines.
Anyone who has attended the National Academy knows all about the “Yellow Brick Road,” the final test of the fitness challenge. It consists of a 6.1-mile grueling run through a hilly, wooded trail built by the Marine Corps for their Officer Candidate School. Along the way, the participants must climb over walls, run through creeks, jump through simulated windows, scale rock faces with ropes, crawl under barbed wire in muddy water, maneuver across a cargo net, and more. When (and if) the students complete this final and difficult test, they receive an actual yellow brick to memorialize their achievement. The course came to be known as the “Yellow Brick Road” years ago, after US Marines placed yellow bricks at various spots to show runners the way through the wooded trail. The overall fitness challenge began at the National Academy in 1981 and has evolved over the years; the awarding of yellow bricks began in 1988.
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