County Graduates of FBI’s Academy to Be Honored

Some call it boot camp for cops. Others say it’s the West Point of law enforcement. The FBI National Academy, founded by J. Edgar Hoover in 1935, is the elite training experience for aspiring law enforcement leaders around the world.

On Thursday, the Orange County chapter of the Society of Former FBI Special Agents will honor the county’s academy graduates, bringing together police chiefs, lieutenants and others for a Tustin luncheon to pay homage to the camaraderie that binds them, said Phillip P. Hanlon, chairman of the chapter.

The academy, on the rolling woodlands of the U.S. Marine Corps base at Quantico, Va., offers a mix of higher education, rigorous physical training and an expansive network of contacts with law enforcement officials.

Hanlon said about 150 Orange County law enforcement officers have completed the 12-week training, which kicked many a career into high gear.

Laguna Beach Police Chief Neil J. Purcell Jr. graduated in 1975, one of only four officials in the history of his city’s department to attend.

“All you have to do is mention that you’re an FBI national academy graduate and doors open,” Purcell said. “I have friends who travel zigzagging all over the United States and they never stay in a single hotel.”

Retired Huntington Beach Police Chief Earle Robitaille graduated in 1972, applying the academy’s training methods to his own force and making contacts that helped him in crime solving for years.

“On a professional level, (the bonds) are totally and completely invaluable,” he said. “If you are running into trouble and you need resources, you pick up the phone and call someone in another state or another county. I did that hundreds of times.”

The experience gave many their first contact with fellow crime fighters in other countries. Robitaille traded experiences with a chief constable from Jamaica and the chief of Jordanian King Hussein’s security police.

Anaheim Lt. Joe Reiss, 39, who graduated from the academy March 24, launched firm friendships with an English officer and a New Delhi police commander. His academy stint also helped him earn a recent promotion from sergeant.

“A lot of the courses I was taking really helped,” said Reiss, 39. Among them was a class in executive leadership that applies cutting-edge business concepts to law enforcement.

For Orange County Undersheriff Raul Ramos, the academy’s 99th class brought him into contact with his current boss, Sheriff Brad Gates. Both lived on the same floor, studying together and participating in the academy’s rigorous fitness routines.

In 1975, just months after they graduated, Gates took office and hired Ramos away from Ventura County, where he served as chief deputy in charge of patrol.

“If it hadn’t been for the National Academy, I probably wouldn’t have met Brad Gates at the time that I did meet him,” Ramos said. “I’m very grateful for what the academy did for me, and I think it opened my eyes to the broader issues of law enforcement.”