Lt. Sam completes training at FBI Academy

BLPD Lt. Sam Olson returned from 10 weeks of leadership training at the National Leadership Academy for the FBI in Quantico, VA, 40 miles from Washington, DC, last week.

The FBI National Academy is a professional development course for U.S. and international law enforcement leaders. 

Its work endeavors to improve the administration of justice in police departments and agencies at home and abroad, and to raise law enforcement standards, knowledge, and cooperation worldwide.

“I was very fortunate to have an opportunity to go,” Lt. Olson said. “Only about one percent of police officers ever have the chance.”

The 10-week training included taking 17 college credits in seven classes in 10 weeks from the University of Virginia, and writing 11 papers, in addition to physical fitness challenge days each Wednesday.

Classes are offered in law, behavioral science, forensic science, understanding terrorism/terrorist mindsets, leadership, communication and health/fitness. 

Officers take part in team-building,  leadership exercises and specialized training, where they share ideas, techniques, and experiences as they make friendships which last long beyond the experience.

“We had fitness training three days per week in addition to our challenge days,” Lt. Olson said. “It was a challenge, mentally and physically.”

Lt. Olson said he trained with 224 other law enforcement officers from 23 other countries. They lived in two-person dorm rooms and shared connecting bathrooms with two others.

“It was interesting to be able to network with all those people from all around the world,” Lt. Olson said. “I found out they face the same struggles and the same triumphs as our department here in Big Lake.”

“I am very fortunate to work where I work,” Lt. Olson said. “I have a great boss. I work with a great staff and I serve in a great community that stands behind their police department. Some communities don’t trust their police officers. I am blessed to work where I do.”

Fire Boat 343

“It wasn’t all school work. There was some fun stuff too. We went in to Washington, DC a few times, and 125 of us went to New York with four New York Police Dept. Officers, who set that up for us. We got to see a lot of the behind-the-scenes stuff,” Lt. Olson said.

Among the things they saw was the NYPD headquarters and their helicopter training facility, as well as a behind the scenes visit with the New York Fire Dept.

“We went to Carmine’s for dinner that Saturday night,” Sam recalled. “And we had an amazing time with their fire department. We got to ride on Fire Boat 343.” 

Made from the steel  beams of the World Trade Center, it’s number, 343, is the number of firefighters who gave their lives Sept. 11, 2001. It’s 110 feet long and it pumps 55,000 gallons of water per minutefrom the river.

“We toured Manhattan from the river and saw Staten Island, the Brooklyn Bridge and the 911 Freedom Tower,” Lt. Olson said. “Later we were able to go up on the 64th floor, overlooking the city.” 

Sam, who was a firefighter (and still is), before he became a police officer, was able to show them a new technique to make one of their tasks easier.

One Saturday Sam and some of his classmates went to see The Holocaust Museum before it was open.

“It was amazing to see what went on there,” he said. “And very humbling.”

Sam also volunteered and was chosen to sing the National Anthem at the Law Enforcement Memorial. 

“I surprised a few people,” he said. “That was cool.”

His family did manage to make it out to visit for a few days, but Sam said he missed them and was really glad to be home. 

The Yellow Brick Road

Before he left, on the final challenge day, Lt. Olson completed the daunting task of running “The Yellow Brick Road,” a  6.1-mile run through a hilly, wooded trail constructed by  Marines. 

Participants must climb over walls, run through creeks, jump through simulated windows, scale rock faces with ropes, crawl under barbed wire in muddy water, maneuver across a cargo net, and more.

Students who complete this difficult test receive a real yellow brick to memorialize their achievement. The course came to be known as the “Yellow Brick Road” because the Marines placed yellow bricks at various spots to show runners the way through the wooded trail. 

“I wasn’t sure I was going to make it,” said Sam, who proudly displays his in his office.

Now he is home, Sam says he feels rejuvenated. He took more than a minute of his time running the mile and gained four pounds but lost and inch and a half around his middle.

“I am excited to be back to work and excited to be home,” he said. “I will be a better leader, a better person, a better listener.”

“I learned it is not just me who can fix things,” he said. “It takes the whole department. And in Big Lake, there is not a lot to fix. We have no murders, no police brutality. It takes everyone to make our department the way it is, not just the officers but the community too.”

“I learned a lot I can use if I need to and a lot I hope I never have to use,” he said. “We have a great department here. It made me appreciate what we have here more and I am excited for the community.”

Sam moved to Big Lake with his parents, Marlin and Darlene Olson in 1974, when he was two years old. Marlin was manager of Peterson’s Amoco for many years. Sam graduated from Big Lake High school in 1991 and initially became a truck driver. 

Olson became a reserve officer with the BLPD in 2001 and was made a full time member of the force in 2003. Sam has been married to his wife, Mary, for 20 years. The couple have two children, son Reid, 14, and daughter Libby, nine.