Deputy Chief Heading to Prestigious Training Program

Gloucester Township Police Deputy Chief David Harkins has been accepted into the FBI's prestigious National Academy.

Harkins will leave for Quantico, VA, this Sunday to begin the 10-week training program. He will be among 250 law-enforcement officers from around the world attending the course.

Police Chief W. Harry Earle presented Harkins with a plaque with the Police Department's slogan—"Dedicated to Service, Committed to Excellence"—during Monday night's Township Council meeting.

"This is a very unique opportunity," Earle said of Harkins' acceptance into the training program.

State Sen. Fred Madden, a retired state police lieutenant colonel, noted the FBI accepts only 1 percent of those who apply for its National Academy.

The FBI has offered its National Academy since 1935. It strives "to improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies domestically and internationally, and to raise law-enforcement standards, knowledge and cooperation worldwide," according to the FBI website.

The FBI will pay for Harkins to attend its 10-week program, Earle noted.

"It really, really is cutting edge and an awful, awful strong shot in the arm for the police department," said Madden, who attended Monday's meeting.