WPD Chief graduates from FBI National Academy

It’s not every day that local law enforcement has the opportunity to learn with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), but Winnemucca Police Chief Mike Rangel returned from 11 weeks of extensive study at the FBI National Academy on Dec. 8. 

Rangel graduated from the academy in Quantico, VA, where the FBI trains its new special agents and intelligence analysts, with a National Academy (NA) diploma and a graduate certificate in Police Education. He holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Human Resources Management and has served in law enforcement for 23  years—he is no stranger to hard work and values education. 

Rangel explained that the classes were all at the collegiate level and he was able to pick criminal justice classes pertaining to drug enforcement strategies, fitness and law enforcement, contemporary issues of police and media relations, managing organizational change and development, Psychology of leadership, and emotional intelligence, communication and contacts. 

“This was outside of the realm of normal or stereotypical law enforcement training like Report Writing 101 or any POST (Peace Officer Standards and Training) curriculum. The majority were graduate level classes. They were challenging, of course, but that’s what we were there for,” explained Rangel.

Those chosen to go to the FBI Academy generally have at least 21 years of experience and have a recommendation from their agency based on proven records as professionals. Two hundred and thirty-six other officers graduated with Rangel from agencies from 25 countries, five military organizations, and five federal civilian organizations, whom he was able to connect and learn with. Rangel reported that the experience gave him perspective and helped him to see that the social issues that Humboldt County has are the same as other places all around the country. 

 “This actually helped me open up how I view the issues—the social issues. And if I don’t know how to address them or I’m having trouble addressing certain things, I reach out to the network of people that I have established relationships with, and they tell me what they’re doing. And I get to pick and choose which one will fit in our environment…We are on the right path,” he affirmed. 

Learning new things and forming professional relationships also allowed Rangel to identify improvements that he wants to make department-wide in personnel development so that his officers can best serve the City and grow as individuals. 

“We have a great culture, but we can always improve on it,” said Rangel. 

Being away from his home and family and the department was not easy, Rangel explained, but having both to come home to also motivated him to work hard and get things done. Rangel also said that many people from the department stayed in contact with him while he was away, helping him to stay connected and fortifying his trust for other officers in the department. 

“The amount of support I had was excellent. I missed just being away in general,” said Rangel.