Five law enforcement officers from police departments and sheriff’s offices across Tennessee graduated from the FBI National Academy’s 290th class this month.
Captain Richard Frazier with the Sullivan County Sheriff’s Office; Lieutenant Anthony Leonard with the Cookeville Police Department; Captain Nevin Long with the Knoxville Police Department; Lieutenant Phillip Penny with the Memphis Police Department; and Lieutenant Betsy “Nikki” Shaver with the Williamson County Sheriff’s Office were among the 201 law enforcement officers who graduated from the academy’s most recent class.
The FBI National Academy, held in Quantico, Virginia, is a “professional course of study for U.S. and international law enforcement managers nominated by their agency heads because of demonstrated leadership qualities.”
Admittance to the program is by invitation only through a nomination process.
The program lasts 10 weeks and “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,” according to the FBI.
Fewer than 1 percent of law enforcement officers across the nation have the opportunity to attend the program.
The program’s coursework focuses on intelligence theory, terrorism and terrorist mindsets, management science, law, behavioral science, law enforcement communication, and forensic science.
A total of 55,186 graduates have completed the FBI National Academy since it began in 1935.
The Academy’s 290th class consisted of law enforcement officers representing 46 states and the District of Columbia, 24 countries, five military organizations, and six federal civilian organizations.
The FBI National Academy’s 289th class, which graduated in March, also saw five law enforcement officers from police departments and sheriff’s offices across Tennessee successfully complete the program.
Those officers were Captain Spencer Daniels with the Hamilton County Sheriff’s Office; Lieutenant Stephen Hale with the Nolensville Police Department; Lieutenant Daniel Hamm with the Munford Police Department; Major Brandon Tayes with the Putnam County Sheriff’s Office; and Captain Christopher Tincher with the Kingsport Police Department.
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Kaitlin Housler is a reporter at The Tennessee Star and The Star News Network. Follow Kaitlin on X / Twitter.
