Undersheriff Pat Turturici recently returned to San Benito
County after graduating from an 11-week training course with the
Federal Bureau of Investigation.
HOLLISTER
Undersheriff Pat Turturici recently returned to San Benito County after graduating from an 11-week training course with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
“For me, it was just a good opportunity to get the best training that law enforcement offers,” he said. “The FBI Academy is like the Harvard of law enforcement – there’s no better training in the world.”
The academy, an 11-week course based at the Marine Corps base in Quantico, Virg., is designed to offer high-standard FBI training to police administrators around the world, Turturici said. The curriculum is both academic and physical, designed to better prepare law enforcement managers for current issues they face day to day.
Turturici graduated from the academy on Sept. 18. His class was the 238th to go through the program.
Courses are required for management, law, behavioral science, communication, forensic science and physical fitness. Candidates must also complete a 6.2-mile endurance and obstacle course, otherwise known as the Yellow Brick Road. Upon completion, each person receives a yellow brick, which Turturici has displayed on his office wall.
“The physical fitness training was demanding,” Turturici said. “I felt like I got a lot out of that and I learned a lot.”
Only one half of one percent of all law enforcement officers get the opportunity in their career to attend the academy. Turturici and 255 students from throughout the United States and various other countries took classes from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
“There was no time during the week to do anything but study and stay in the classrooms.”
The hardest part for the undersheriff was being away from his family and his job, although his family did come and visit for a week. Although everyone had the chance to leave on the weekends, Turturici and other officers stayed the entire 11 weeks.
“Other students from the academy that didn’t go home, we banded together during the weekends,” he said. “I feel I got more out of the academy by staying on the weekends. That’s when you get to know everyone, and networking.”
Along with getting to see the Marine base, the class also got to see the White House, the Pentagon, as well as the Office of Emergency Services in New York City.
“It was a very positive experience for me. It was probably the highlight as far as training goes,” Turturici said. “I had excellent instructors, the best that the world has to offer, basically. I learned a lot.”
