Police chief completes rigorous course

Cocopah Police Chief James Spurgeon has made his way down the yellow brick road. In fact, he has a yellow brick on his desk to prove it.

The yellow brick road is the name of a 6.2-mile challenge course that Spurgeon completed in the ninth week of his 10-week training course with the FBI.

According to the FBI Web site, the FBI National Academy is a course of study for law enforcement leaders that serves to improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies. The stated purpose is to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge and cooperation worldwide.

Spurgeon graduated with high marks from the 237th session of the highly selective and prestigious academy. Candidates for the program must be nominated by leaders in law enforcement, and fewer than 1 percent of nominees are admitted.

"Attending was a tremendous honor and a privilege," said Spurgeon.

The academy offers advanced training in command level law enforcement, labor law, physical fitness and even media-police relations. All courses are administered by professionals in the field, and the sessions last from 8 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. on a normal day.

Spurgeon said the best part of the program is the opportunity for net- working.

"They stress academics and physical fitness, but you're working with 250 of your peers. The relationships that we forged were something that will be lifelong."

The academy, held in Quantico, Va., is free to the leaders who are chosen to attend. "My entire program was covered by the FBI - travel, training, texts, food and lodging."

As for the yellow brick road, Spurgeon said finishing the two-hour challenge course, designed by the Marine Corps, gave him an incredible sense of completion. Academy participants are put through intense physical training during the program and as a result he said he feels 10 years younger.

Spurgeon has been involved with law enforcement for more than 22 years and has been the Cocopah police chief for nearly three years. He said the opportunity to attend the FBI National Academy was truly the experience of a lifetime.

"It was a great honor to attend it and I owe a lot to the Cocopah Tribe for letting me go and be gone for 10 weeks. That was a huge sacrifice for them and proved volumes of their faith in me."