Red Bank Captain Earns FBI Nat'l Academy Training

Capt. Darren McConnell recently returned from the FBI National Academy, an elite invitation-only law enforcement leadership and management program held in Virginia, and he's brought back with him everything he's learned.

For 10 weeks, McConnell, along with about 260 other officers from departments from 48 states and 28 foreign countries, participated in various classes, exhaustive physical training, and a speaker series in a program that is recognized throughout the world as being one of the top for law enforcement. The academy is so tough to get into only about 1 percent of all law enforcement personnel are even afford the opportunity during their careers.

"I've wanted to do this as long as I can remember, since I was on the job for five years," McConnell said during an interview Tuesday. "It's considered to be the premier law enforcement training in the country and I was fortunate to get there before I retired."

McConnell said the program is a bit like college. Attendees bunk with each other in dorm-style accommodations and they attend classes they've select from an available list. For McConnell, labor law, media relations, forensic photography, interview and interrogation, and leadership for law enforcement occupied his classroom time.

Physical training was also part of the drill. McConnell and his fellow attendees participated in physical training every day as well as weekly challenges. It started off easily enough, he said, with a two-mile run the first week, but by the end of the course everyone was running through a six-mile marine corps obstacle course reserved for he country's toughest soldiers.

"I figured finishing it was my goal," McConnell said of the obstacle course. "Almost everyone in the class finished and we all did better than we expected. It's an accomplishment. We're doing something that 18 and 19 year olds are doing and most of us are in our 40's, some even in the upper 50's."

McConnell, 42, was one of eight officers from New Jersey to attend the academy, which is held four times a year. The only officer he knew at the academy was a captain from the Monmouth County Prosecutor's Office.

Maybe even more so than the training and classes, McConnell said the ability to network with law enforcement personnel from around the world is something that should pay dividends for Red Bank going forward.

"A lot of what you learn comes from other members of the class. You get small tidbits, tips, you learn hints along the way, but I think the knowledge you get from the other guys, all who are seasoned with about 20 to 25 years of experience, is what makes it," McConnell said.

McConnell isn't the first Red Bank officer to have the training. The borough's top cop Chief Stephen McCarthy also went through the academy, as did the chief before him. As for whether he considers the training a prerequisite for getting the chief's position, McConnell couldn't say, though he did admit it's a nice experience to have under your belt.

Asked if the training puts him in line for pursuing jobs elsewhere, McConnell said he's not interested in that.

"I definitely plan on staying in Red Bank," he said. "I've been here for 23 years and have no interest in moving. Some people do use (the academy) as a resume builder, especially in other states where law enforcement officers tend to move around more often, but I like it here."