For the second time in Sequim Police Department’s history, a local officer has graduated from the FBI National Academy.

Deputy police chief Mike Hill joins police chief Sheri Crain as Sequim’s only graduates with Hill finishing April 8 during the 286th session in Quantico, Va.

Crain, who attended in 2013 as Sequim’s deputy police chief, said the professional development is a leadership experience shared with executive-level peers from around the world.

“It’s the ability to network and interact with all those people and give you a broader viewpoint of law enforcement in general,” she said.

Nationally, less than 1 percent of all law enforcement officers attend the program, according to local officers.

Hill said he now has contacts everywhere in the world if he needs a perspective on something specific.

“These are subject matter experts, and I could reach out to someone from every state, if needed,” he said.

Hill took courses and trained at the academy for 10 weeks as one of 238 graduates from 47 states and the District of Columbia, and 25 countries.

Similar to college dorm living, Hill shared a room with a recently promoted Montana police chief, and attended classes five days a week that went toward undergraduate and Master’s level classes through the University of Virginia.

Classes covered leading at-risk employees, executive writing, investigative strategies for violent crime, executive writing, crisis negotiations, forensic science and fitness training.

Hill said his experiences ranged from attending Alcoholics Anonymous meetings for a better understanding of dynamics to learning more about the FBI’s forensic offerings.

Most of the participants in Hill’s academy session were from smaller cities along with officers from Oak Harbor, Shelton and Yakima County that face issues similar to Sequim’s, he said.

“(Policing issues) aren’t just statewide or nationally. It’s worldwide with policing and the changes going on and the different demands of society,” Hill said. “It’s the same for someone, say, in Malaysia. I can talk to them and see successes and techniques to help.”

Crain said Hill going to the academy helps Sequim develop into a “bigger, better and stronger agency.”

“We’ve been accredited (annually) since 2016, and we create strategic plans every five years, and these are following the best practices in the world of law enforcement,” she said.

“Here we are a small agency on the peninsula and we’re doing a lot of things that are top end industry standards.”

By interacting with officers across the globe, Crain said those similar concerns and issues make the world a little bit smaller.

“We really are facing a lot of the same issues and hopefully by working together we can come up with solutions,” she said.

Sequim’s biggest issue going forward, like many businesses and agencies, is hiring, Hill said.

“It’s more of a global problem,” he said. “You go out to eat, and see less wait staff. We see that in policing as well. Except we’re 24/7, so we don’t get to close our doors, so staffing needs are always in our mind.”

Additionally, Hill said recent changes in policing have become more demanding, but Hill sees that as a positive change for the profession “by raising our standards and keeping us in line with what the public thinks we should be.”

Following his academy training, Hill said he hopes to continue improving professionally.

“The rest of our staff sees that as well,” he said. “If you don’t continue to improve then you get stale.”

While there are no immediate plans to send another officer to the FBI National Academy, Hill said the Sequim department plans to “continue to send people from Sequim there.”

As of publication, Hill and Crain are two of 54,366 graduates that completed the FBI National Academy since it began in 1935.

Hill started his path in law enforcement attending a reserve officer training academy in 1998, and later the police academy in order to join Sequim Police Department full time in 2001. He also went to two canine academies as Sequim’s K-9 officer.

Milestone marks

Hill and Crain are two of the many officers at the academy to earn a yellow brick for completing a 6.1-mile course featuring walls, ropes, nets and more. It earned its moniker for the yellow bricks placed along the trail by marines to help guide the way.

Others to finish the academy and earn a brick, Hill said, include Clallam County Sheriff Brian King and Port Angeles Police Chief Brian Smith, deputy police chief Jason Viada and Det. Sgt. Kori Malone.

Hill also earned a red brick for rowing, and a black brick for weightlifting achievements.