Carson City’s Humphrey talks about time at FBI Academy

The Carson City Sheriff’s Office welcomed one of its own back from the FBI National Academy in Quantico, Va.

Lt. Brian Humphrey, head of the investigations division with the Sheriff’s Office, spent the last two and a half months at the FBINA in Virginia to learn about the newest techniques and information in policing. The academy is a 10-week program for high ranking law enforcement agents from the state, local, county, tribal, military, federal and international law enforcement agencies.

“It feels excellent, it is a really good feeling to be able to graduate from the academy because it is something that is a long process to get to attend and less than one percent of law enforcement gets to attend and graduate,” Humphrey said.

The FBINA is a highly exclusive program — it often takes agencies several years to get a name on the list of applicants. There are a limited number of slots available, only 230 per year, Carson City Sheriff Ken Furlong said it has taken nearly 3 years to get Humphrey’s name on the list. However, this also ensures the department is getting the most qualified and trained officers back.

“I am very proud of Brian,” Furlong said. “As an organization focus in on the FBINA as the highest qualification for our managers in the department who oversee our investigations, detention and patrol division. These are critical services to the community and we are proud that we have for so many years focused in on our division heads to run this critical environment.”

With the completion of the academy, Humphrey will be promoted next week into the rank of captain. He will be one of three current captains.

“Brian, as well as (Capt.) Wall, Melvin and (Assistant Sheriff Ken) Sandage, we are very proud of their accomplishments at the academy and bring back the department those specialized skills acquired that can only serve to benefit the community,” Furlong said.

While at the FBINA, Humphrey was able to train in a variety of college accredited classes, from new forensics techniques to leadership focused courses. Humphrey said his favorite course was the Cyber Threat Landscape for Law Enforcement class because they got to learn about the new cyber crimes trends that have become more relevant, from nation-state hackers such as countries potentially trying to commit cyber crimes against the country to day-to-day hackers such as IRS scammers.

“That is a new and upcoming area of law enforcement where people can hide behind a computer in another country or state and wreck havoc on a city or country or state,” Humphrey said.

“They teach you things you can bring back to the agency to benefit the department and lead them with new ways and techniques to police nowadays.”

They also participated in a number of other classes that offer benefits for not only the local community, but within the department as well. Humphrey and the other cadets learned about stress management for employees, physical fitness and health plans to better take care of their bodies, new drug trends from the DEA and forensic investigation techniques and tools.

“Just like in any profession, there are always new ways to perform your job and ongoing education in any field is crucial to continue to better ourselves and our agency to move forward,” Humphrey said.

Another benefit of Humphrey to attend the FBINA is the connections that form between agencies.

“You build relationships with other agencies that become crucial in investigations down the road,” Humphrey said.

These relationships help provide support in major crimes and help with investigations that may span across jurisdictions.

Though, the FBINA wasn’t without difficulty for Humphrey. Being away from his home and work was difficult.

“I was away from Carson City for about 12 weeks total and to coordinate my personal and professional responsibilities was a challenge, however my areas of responsibility at the Sheriff’s Office was covered by well qualified colleagues to help me fill in my day to day activities,” Humphrey said.

In the end, the sacrifice was well worth it. Humphrey said he has been lucky to be a part of a department that has helped support him and helped him grow. He has been with Carson City for 25 years, starting at the age of 19 as a dispatcher for seven years before moving onto patrol, where he worked with K9, was a Field Training Officer, a School Resource Officer and worked with the gang unit. From there he was promoted to sergeant and supervised the Special Enforcement Team and in 2014 he was promoted to the rank of lieutenant and now supervises the Detectives division, as well as SET team, gang units, evidence vault and crime lab. Now, he will join the elite rank of captains in the department.

“I have been extremely lucky throughout my career here,” Humphrey said. “I have been very fortunate to work all these areas and have been able to get to this point because of the support of everyone I have gotten to work with. To this day, I still love what I do and I feel so fortunate to be where I am. I am thankful for where I am at and thankful to be in the position that I’m in, it has been amazing.”