Police captain heads to FBI
This week, Columbia Police Department Capt. Brad Nelson will be leaving for Quantico, Va to learn from the FBI.
Nelson, who commands the Major Crimes, Domestic Violence, Narcotics and Street Crimes Units, has been accepted to the FBI National Academy, a ten week program aimed to improve police administration.
“It’s a prestigious school,” Nelson said. “Actually, I applied for it three years ago, and you never know if you’re going to get into it or not because there’s only a thousand people, roughly, per year that get to attend this.”
Police Interim Chief Tom Dresner elaborated on the difficulty of getting into the program.
"The opportunities for attendance at the FBI National Academy are somewhat limited," Dresner said. "There's a lot of demand for the curriculum.”
Dresner said there’s usually never more than one slot open at a time.
Nelson will be taking courses, writing papers and doing research. He will select his own curriculum, choosing the courses that interest him at the academy.
He said he will most likely gravitate toward other investigative commanders in hopes of improving the Major Crimes Division in Columbia.
“There’s a lot of interaction with other police commanders,” Nelson said. “It’s basically learning how they do things, versus how we do things.”
Dresner said the department has been sending officers since at least the 1980s based on a seniority system.
The FBI pays for most of the costs associated with attending the school, including tuition, lodging and food.
Dresner said Nelson’s attendance at the academy is an opportunity to improve the entire department.
“Anytime we can advance our education level and anytime we can enhance our educational level in any number of ways, especially at the top of the organization, I think we can benefit from that,” Dresner said.
Nelson hopes to take what he learns in Quantico and use it in Columbia.
“I certainly plan to take what I get out of this ten week class and if it will make the investigations unit run smoother, or better in any way, shape or form, I’ll certainly try to implement that,” Nelson said.