By Mary O’KEEFE

Glendale police captain Robert William graduated from the 291^st session of the FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia.

The FBI offers an accredited professional course of study for U.S. and international law enforcement members who are nominated for the course by their agency. It is 10-week program that provides coursework including intelligence theory, terrorism and terrorist mindsets, management science and law enforcement communication.

There were 255 law enforcement members who in September went through the program with William. He said that each participant took away something different from the classes.

“There was a lot of time for me to reflect on myself as a person, as a citizen, as a father and a husband but also as a leader with the [GPD] organization,” William said.

He said the classes he took were very helpful.

“We were talking about constitutional law; that was a very applicable class because we were talking about amendments and changes in the law. We were talking about [a] philosophical change in law enforcement and how we all adapted [to] those types of things. As a leader for my organization [GPD], I get to bring that back and have those conversations with my leadership team … and be in tune with what’s going on with the rest of the country,” he added.

William said the members he was in the program with came from all over the world, including from Africa and Denmark. There were some countries that had worse crime than what was seen in the nation … and in California.

“And then there were other countries that seem to be pretty peaceful. They don’t see the level of crime we do; for example, we had agencies represented from the Netherlands [which has relatively low crime rates]. There was [a representative] from Denmark [who said] they don’t see gang violence, they don’t typically see the level of violence or street violence we see here in California,” he said. “But it seemed to me when it comes to drugs, that’s [an issue] that is across the board for everyone. Everyone’s dealing with it, and everyone is dealing with it in different ways.”

He added the experience of attending the FBI session allowed him to hear how other agencies were dealing with a variety of law enforcement issues. The things he learned he brought back to GPD.

“I think it’s about networking,” he said. “You bring all these agencies together and we’re building lifelong relationships, professionally and personally.”

William added that now if he is dealing with a situation in California he could reach out to a contact in Michigan or Florida and compare notes on a specific issue.

He did add he was happy to see the agencies from California seemed to be a “cut above the rest” when it came to technology and reform and even philosophically.

“I am happy to say we are pretty far advanced,” he said.

Although the FBI program was an honor to attend, and will be of value for years to come, the decision to leave his family for 10 weeks was not easy. He said his wife had to “pick up the load” and deal with all the kids’ sports and practices.

“Just knowing the amount of pressure that was on her was challenging for me,” he said.

But his wife realized how important the program was and supported his choice to go.

The information he brought back will be invaluable.

“[In one class] we talked a lot about emotional intelligence for law enforcement,” William said. “It’s no surprise that policing right now in this country is a very difficult thing to do, especially for our young officers [who] are stepping into this career … And gone are the days where we tell people suck it up and just get on with it. I’ve seen a major shift to a better direction where we are more empathetic and more understanding of where they are coming from … So to me that was perhaps the class that had the profound impact on me – because I got to not just focus on the leadership side of it but also just as a person.”