Police Chief Returns To Long Valley Completing Prestigious FBI Academy

LONG VALLEY, NJ — The Long Valley police chief is now among the one percent of law enforcement professionals who have completed a coveted FBI training program.

Chief Jeffrey Almer of the Washington Township Police Department is among the approximately 198 officers from across the world selected to participate in session 287 of the FBI National Academy, an extensive 10-week training course that will be held in Quantico, Virginia.

The academy is regarded as the best training facility in the country, and the program included ten weeks of rigorous classroom training in a variety of areas, as well as daily physical training that culminated in a 6.1-mile Marine Corps-based obstacle course known as the Yellow Brick Road.

Almer, who is in his 29th year of service to Washington Township, having been hired in August 1995, returned home to Long Valley this week.

In completing this course and graduating last week, Almer joined the long line of former law enforcement officers who have earned this accolade, stretching all the way back to 1935, when the institution originally started.

Almer expressed his gratitude to the town, Mayor Matt Murello, and the entire township committee for giving him this chance. He also expressed his gratitude to all of the officers in his department and his administrative staff for continuing their hard work so that he could concentrate on his training.

"He further stated he is blessed to have been able to attend such a prestigious academy, network with people from around the world, and be able to bring back the knowledge and experience so that he can further guide the department and its officers," the police department said.

The National Academy offers senior officers who have established themselves as leaders within their businesses specialized instruction in management, fitness, and investigation.

Students establish relationships that build international law enforcement collaborations in addition to taking undergraduate and graduate-level academic courses in subjects including law, behavioral and forensic science, understanding terrorism and terrorists and leadership development.

“If you’re a National Academy graduate,” said Special Agent Greg Cappetta, chief of the National Academy Unit at Quantico, “it doesn’t matter where you go in the world—someone there has gone through the program and will be ready to help you.”

To date, more than 46,000 men and women have graduated from the program, and more than 28,500 are still active in law enforcement work.